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Welcome back to another episode of the Trees & Lines podcast. Liz Westberg, Business Development at Growth Solutions, joins us to discuss how tree growth regulators are helping utilities reduce long-term vegetation management costs by slowing regrowth and extending pruning cycles. Liz breaks down the science behind paclobutrazol, explaining how it works at the cellular level by reducing gibberellic acid production and redirecting tree energy in ways that also improve drought tolerance, root development, and overall tree health. She walks through the business case for TGRs, including cost savings of 20 to 70% depending on access conditions, and explains why timing treatments close to pruning events is critical to getting the best results out of any program.
The conversation also covers species considerations across deciduous trees, conifers, and monocots, why implementation scope and target selection matter more than most utilities realize, and how Growth Solutions manages landowner communication and opt-out programs in the field. Liz shares why less than 20% of utilities currently use TGRs despite decades of availability, what it takes to build the internal business case for adoption, and why the foresters who have implemented these programs rarely want to give them up once they start seeing results. Have a listen, hope you enjoy!
#VegetationManagement #UtilityArboriculture #TreeGrowthRegulators #GridReliability #UtilityOperations #UrbanForestry #EnergyInfrastructure #Utilities