For Trimmers, Money Does Grow on Trees

Growing up in Montgomery County, Adam Wingo loved to climb trees. He still does, and that helps explain why he spends a fourth of his work hours in boughs and branches.

Despite the sap, bugs, "soot, dirt, grime, slime and ooze," he thoroughly likes the work -- everything except hauling away logs and preparing taxes. He owns and is the only full-time employee of Out on a Limb Tree Service in Fairfax County.

"I prefer to be up in the tree," Wingo said, calling it his place to do "his creative work." Wingo talks to trees about his task -- whether cutting off a limb, installing a cable to hold up a branch or taking down the whole thing. "I have a compassion for the tree," he said, and he tries to educate clients about basic tree care.

He figures he and his temporary contractors spend about three times as many hours on the ground, doing preparation or cleanup, as they do among branches.

After six years in the Army, Wingo became a logger in Washington state and cut firewood on the side. Eventually he moved back to the Washington area and started his company. Wingo is mostly self-taught on tree care but easily discusses tree diseases and safety standards and rules.

It's demanding physical labor. A handful of tree trimmers are injured or killed nationwide each year, often on an electric line.

Experienced tree-care specialists can earn $55,000 or more a year, and new ones may start around $25,000 working for a municipality, utility or landscaping firm.

-- Vickie Elmer