Spring is a great time to assess woody shrubs for shape, structure, and winter damage. This workshop will focus on learning by doing. Ron Yaple, owner of Race Mountain Tree Services in Sheffield, MA, will demonstrate how to renovate, rejuvenate, and shape shrubs and small ornamental trees for structure, health, and optimal growth. Plants covered will include viburnums, lilacs, witch hazels, deciduous azaleas, sweetshrubs, crabapples, and ornamental cherries. Participants should dress for the weather, bring pruners, work gloves, and a bag lunch.

Ron Yaple, owner of Race Mountain Tree Services in Sheffield, MA, who self identifies as a ​​”a pretty darn good arborist”, has developed a regional reputation as a premier arborist. He is a dedicated and knowledgeable teacher of arboriculture. Kieran Yaple has been connected with arboriculture since birth. He grew up in a household surrounded by trees and began climbing early. At age 12 he attended, with his father, a two-day workshop with Dr. Alex Shigo, the father of Modern Arboriculture, learning about trees’ vascular systems in both stems and roots, as well as the extensive list of creatures living in soil, through the lens of microscopes. He became a Massachusetts Certified Arborist in 2013 and an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist in 2012. He is also a Certified Tree Safety Professional and pesticide licensed in Massachusetts.