A Davey CLS crew maintains a landscape in Hawaii.
Pearl Harbor affords Davey employees the solemn
duty of working near historic memorial sites from the
Dec. 7, 1941 attack.
get to see a side of the island that
few people get to see."
There are considerable differences in
caring for trees 2,400 miles from the
continental U.S.
"Our crews are working 52 weeks a
year," Pshigoda said. "The temperatures
are in the mid-80s all year. The grass
is growing as much, if not more, in
January than it does in the summer."
Terry Bier, regional vice president,
Davey Surgery, said crews prune
coconut palms twice a year to try and
eliminate coconuts as a safety hazard.
"Those things are heavy. If they get
ripe and fall, they can fall on people,
cars and other property," Bier said.
Shipping equipment is another
challenge. To start, Davey Surgery
loaned some equipment from its
crews working on the Hawaiian
Electric utility account to CLS crews.
Fortunately, hiring the right people has
not been difficult. With the exception
of long-time Davey employees Kevin
Sharkey, regional manager, and Cinde
York, account manager/quality control
inspector, Davey hired Hawaiians.
For Sharkey, a Colorado native, he's
enjoyed adapting to the lack of winters
and a new variety of flora and fauna.
"Learning all of the new plant material,
trees and turf, because I am from
Colorado, is a tremendous learning
curve," Sharkey said. "It keeps me
engaged each and every day."
Coconut palms require pruning twice
a year by Davey Surgery crews.
Identifying and caring for different plant material
has been a fun challenge for Davey crews.
September/October 2016 | The Davey Bulletin 19
