Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, X-Class and Citan driving in convoy on an out-of-town road

Baumbua tree surgeons: a workplace at lofty heights

With his company "Baumbua Baumpflege", Sascha Reisch specialises in professional maintenance of trees. A special rope climbing technique makes it possible to prune or fell trees in even the tightest of spaces.

The "Baumbua" team climb up to impressive heights.

Sascha Reisch isn't afraid of heights. And it's a good job as the Baumbua team often find themselves working high up in the treetops around Munich. For this avid fan of nature, being a tree surgeon isn't just a job, it's his passion. The professional and careful handling of trees and nature is thus a core component of his company's philosophy. "Preserving that which preserves us. In concrete terms: trees keep us alive. And we try to keep trees alive for as long as possible." Part of this philosophy is also the use of the so-called half-rope climbing method. Using half-ropes reduces the weight and relieves the load on the body when doing this type of work on a daily basis. "Communication and teamwork are absolutely essential during climbing – after all, a good climber is only as good as the person helping them from the ground, and vice versa," explains Sascha. A further advantage is that: "A good climber cuts less off the tree because they climb right up into the branches directly."

Baumbua: tree care 20 metres off the ground.

Sascha sees himself and his work as an interface between man and nature. As a result of this, he's often torn between two worlds. On the one hand, there are those who want a perfectly intact tree to be removed for no particular reason. And then on the other there are those who want to keep trees at all costs, despite them posing a threat for the environment. That's not an easy position to be in. So what is it that makes a good tree surgeon? "That you can't even tell a tree has been pruned." In their daily work, the Baumbua employees always try and enter into discussion with people they encounter and explain to them what they are doing and why. "It's my aim to sensitise people on the topic of trees. Especially in urban areas, because it's exactly there where it is particularly important to keep trees alive for as long as possible."

From landscape gardener to tree surgeon.

During his training to become a landscape gardener, the Munich-born tree surgeon had already developed a penchant for the then little-known rope-based tree climbing technique. With his diploma in the bag, he moved to a company specialising in tree maintenance. There, he learned a number of different rope-climbing techniques and carried out more intense training in the field of tree control. "I noticed that this was exactly the line of work for me and I've stuck with it ever since." In 2004, he made the jump to become self-employed. Besides the professional and safe work which he carries out on the trees themselves, another aspect of his Baumbua Baumpflege company is teaching people to have a better understanding of trees and nature. "When you're self-employed, you're always faced with challenges – both on a human level and on an economic level – and most notably the choice between doing certain things and not doing them. And that will form the basis for your own philosophy."

"Preserving that which preserves us" – the motto of the Baumbua team.

Perfect tree care with a vehicle fleet from Mercedes-Benz.

Baumbua is a tree surgeon company from Munich. The place of work: tree tops 20 metres off the ground. For tree maintenance, the company needs to be able to access any type of terrain in all seasons. To this end, "Baumbua" has put its trust in a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Regardless of whether they're driving in tough off-road terrain or through the urban jungle: with the X-Class, the Sprinter and the Citan, "Baumbua" can respond perfectly to any challenge. Find out how the "Baumbua" vehicles are put to use and why the company is so impressed by them.

4 tips from Sascha for correct tree care:

	1. The chosen tree: you should think about the type of tree you want to plant and whether you have a suitable place for it (thinking about the light conditions, earth and amount of space available).
	2. The right place: before you plant a tree, you should calculate the space which it will need when it grows. Don't plant it too close to the house, the neighbour's property or the road.
	3. Timely planning: it's better to plan in the pruning earlier rather than later, when more of the tree would otherwise need removing.
	4. Get professional help: when it comes to pruning trees, don't just take the cheapest offer, look for a specialist company with plenty of experience – that will pay off in the long term. You'll get plenty more joy from a well-pruned tree. A "mutilated" tree will be more work than it's worth. If it's been too heavily worked on, you'll never get it back to its former glory.

Tree surgeon Sascha Reisch has been climbing into treetops around Munich for more than 20 years now.

A symbiosis.

"Trees can live without humans, but we can't live without trees."

The right vehicle for every type of terrain – thanks to the Citan, X-Class and Sprinter.

The Baumbua vehicle fleet includes a Citan, an X-Class and a Sprinter Platform Vehicle with crewcab. "As urban tree surgeons, we need compact vehicles and all-wheel drive for felling operations in winter." Employees use the Citan to get to appointments in cities for initial visual checks of the trees. "The Citan is a small, compact vehicle with which we can easily get to sites and which is especially good in the city traffic, particularly in terms of parking." In order to tow heavy machines like the chipper, the Baumbua team uses the X-Class. What's more, the tree surgeons can even get through snow in winter and tough terrain thanks to the all-wheel drive system. "The Sprinter is the classic tradesman's tool with which we can get our staff and equipment to the site, whilst also having a suitable load surface for transporting branches, chippings and machines." Sustainable circuits are a major concern for the environmentally-aware company. Pruned branches are chipped directly on-site. The chippings are then brought to a biomass processing plant where they are turned into new energy for district heating systems or for generating electricity.