Also known by friends and customers as “The Tree Doctor”, Don has over 50 years of experience and education in tree & landscape maintenance, and organic gardening and farming.
Son of a horticulturist, landscape architect, parks planner, Don grew up around plant nurseries, parks, arboretums, landscaping and tree work. Over the course of his long career, he’s been a nurseryman, licensed landscape contractor, tree worker/foreman/operations manager, tree service owner, tropical reforestation worker, orchard manager, consulting arborist, municipal arborist, utility arborist, estimator and trainer. He’s lived and worked in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, and Thailand.
Don’s early education and experience came from apprenticing with his father from age 12, and other master horticulturists, arborists and organic farmers. His education includes college coursework in biological sciences, pest management, plant pathology, and business management. He is associated with the International Society of Tropical Foresters and the International Society of Arboriculture, formerly as Board Certified Master Arborist, with Municipal, Utility and Tree Risk Assessment credentials, and currently as Certifed Arborist WE-3023A
As Buddhism spread across Asia, it integrated with local animistic and shamanic traditions, which included nature worship.
An animist is a person who believes that all natural things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, and the earth itself—possess a distinct spiritual essence. This worldview, often held by indigenous cultures, treats the environment as alive, sentient, and interconnected, rather than merely material.