What's the difference between botanist and arborist?

Both professions involve the study of plants, but they have different approaches. Botanists usually study all types of plants, while arborists focus specifically on trees. Plants, trees and shrubs require good care to thrive and thrive. Our goal is to help you make the right decisions when caring for your plants and trees.

Take a look at this useful video about caring for plants in the best possible way. Horticulturists are also more physically involved in growing plants. Often, they are directly responsible for the landscaping, planting, weeding and other care themselves. Advanced horticulturists may delegate smaller tasks to others, but it rarely ceases to be labor intensive work.

Botany is the scientific study of plants and a botanist is a person who studies plants. Plant life can range from the smallest single-celled life forms to the tallest redwoods. Therefore, the field is very varied and the job possibilities are endless. An arborist is someone who is trained in studying trees and is sometimes referred to as a tree surgeon.

An arborist is concerned with structural problems in trees, how a tree should be pruned, what species of trees will thrive in a given location, and tree diseases. Generally, an arborist focuses on individual trees, while someone who manages the health of entire forests is called a forester. The word arborist is derived from the Latin word arbor, which means tree, and from the suffix -ist. However, there are several fundamental differences with these plant-based scientific studies.

Horticulture is the applied science of gardening, while botanists study plant theory. Let's take a look at each discipline in a little more detail so that you have a full understanding of each of them and what they do. They use specialized equipment or trucks with elevators to access the highest branches of a tree.