Master arborist, author and speaker Kevin Lee has served Calgary for over 30 years

Trees are living beings and deserve respect.

My Tree Care Philosophy

The more I learn about trees and their amazing lives, the more I realize how all their different parts come together into one being. Just like your own body, with all its different tissues and processes all working together, so it is with the tree, deserving of intelligence and respect.

A Kind Tree Care Approach

When we realize the interconnectedness of leaves, twigs, branches, trunk and roots, we experience the whole balanced tree. We naturally approach the tree with kindness, empathy, and respect. These ideas are fully expanded in my articles.

Know the Tree

Being able to see clearly and assess carefully is the greatest gift I can bring to a tree. Once we see clearly, knowing what to do is easy. This is what we do during a tree health consulting session.

Connection with Trees

Why KRL? Simply, a strong natural connection with trees, reinforced with decades of experience. A caring empathetic approach that looks to do what is best for each tree, to increase its longevity and level of health. I will only do what is right for your tree. Put decades of hands-on experience and study to work for you with a tree whispering session.

My Story - How I Became the Tree Whisperer

I have been a Calgarian since I was in grade two. Growing up here, the main use of our free time was exploring the Rocky Mountain front, with different activities during all seasons. This outdoor life, interests as an amateur naturalist and tree work have filled my life.

PREVIEW MY TREE BOOK
	Your Trees: What They Want You to Know

I come from hardy Western Canadian stock and my boyhood summers were spent on a mixed farm in central Saskatchewan. That farm, planted in 1928 by my great-grandfather, was full of groves and shelter belts and a group of Scots pines. That wonderful enclosed place among those trees is where I made my first deep connections to the natural world.

After school and a four year stint with the Alberta Forest Service, I took a job with a local tree service. That work lasted through the summer, fall and into the winter. After that amazing first season, I never looked back. Now was the start of my real education, working in Arboriculture.

Years, then decades of tree work followed. Always curious about my work, I started reading tree books. Many tree books. One of the first precious jewels was Dr. Alex Shigo’s New Tree Biology. Truly a manifesto for a new generation who were looking beyond flush cuts, heavy pruning, topping and cavity treatments.

When I took Dr. Shigo’s course at Olds College in 1990, I felt I was truly launched.

After being deeply steeped in Dr. Shigo’s philosophy, I took a distinctively holistic approach to tree health. Many times we just need to step back out of the way and give the trees the soil, water and sunlight they require. Usually that’s all they require, although the urban environment has its own problems.

One key principle is the concept of the whole tree, the balanced tree, with all of its major parts working in sync. The leaves, twigs, branches, trunk and roots—not five parts but one whole tree in balance. Disturb and injure the roots, look for less growth above and potential top die back. Remove too many leaf-bearing branches, look for a strong reaction of shoot growth to try to compensate.

HOW TO HAVE HEALTHY TREES
	Seven Benefits of a Tree Whispering Session

My work is now consulting. Using my decades of hands-on experience, I can now solve most Calgary tree problems. No one knows it all and new insects and diseases sometimes show up. But I have a solid base of understanding of the Calgary situation.

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