Modern Arboriculture is tree cultivation based on an understanding of tree biology. The more you know about the way the system works, the better you can work on it. Trees are forgiving Trees are the most forgiving living systems on earth. They have been mutilated and injured by humans in countless ways, yet they continue to grow and to provide many benefits for humans, and countless communities of other living organisms. However, as forgiving and as superior as they are in many ways, they do have their limits for survival.
Survival is the ability to remain alive, often under conditions that have the potential to kill.
Trees have never moved away from their problems. Trees have many associates and over time they have developed unsurpassed means for cooperation with them. Trees and their associates cooperate in synergistic ways. Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Trees have also developed in ways that do not disrupt the law of increasing mass and energy.