Business of the Week – Gemini Land and Tree Management Co.
On Earth Day, Todd Ryder O’Neill, owner and proprietor of White Plains-based Gemini Land and Tree Management Co., planted a Kwanza Cherry tree in his friend’s yard. “It was a replacement tree and Earth Day was the right time to plant it,” O’Neill said, emphasizing the importance of each tree in the larger environmental picture.
O’Neill, a licensed arborist, has helped people in Westchester and Putnam Counties save their trees since he was about 20 years old. “I’ve been climbing trees ever since I was a young child,” he says. “I lost any fear of heights at a very early age. One day when I was high up on a ladder cleaning out a gutter, I was fascinated by a large tree-removal taking place at the house across the street. I thought: I want to do that.” Within six months O’Neill was going up 100-foot-tall oak trees, working for the professional arborist he had watched earlier that year. “I’d rather climb a tree than the corporate ladder,” O’Neill says.
Gemini Land and Tree Management Co. is a 2012 venture for O’Neill. After a personal hiatus of about a year, he decided to make the commitment to stay and grow his tree business in White Plains. “There was some extensive soul-searching,” O’Neill admits.
O’Neill chose the name Gemini because it is his astrological sign, but also because the two-fold meaning of the twin sign suits his business persona. “Tree restoration is my focus,” he says, “and I will always approach a situation with that concern first. But if a tree has to go, then it has to go and I am ready to remove trees. Tree removal is a serious business.”
White Plains is full of large old trees, explains O’Neill. There are many Norway maples that were imported into the area that have grown to 75-feet and which can be as old as 100 years. They are not as sturdy as the indigenous sugar maple and along with the pines that grow to well over 100-feet, they have been some of the biggest offenders during recent storms.
Preventive maintenance and good pruning practices can help the older higher trees, O’Neill explains. “Often a property owner will not recognize signs of tree distress until it is too late.” He advises taking the time to really look at the trees on your property. If there are dead branches and breakage, then you know you have a developing problem. “Each tree is different,” O’Neill continues. “Once a problem is eliminated, the tree will show its gratitude with proper growth. I enjoy going back five even ten years later to see a tree I had saved flourishing.”
As an arborist, O’Neill is a climber. He goes up into the trees with ropes, a pulley system and a harness. On more than one occasion he has made contact with the animals living in the neighborhood. “Just last week, he explains, “I had a conversation with a female raccoon, 30-feet up in a Mulberry tree. She growled, ‘go away I’m sleeping, come back another day,’ so I did.” O’Neill occupies the same space as the Red-tailed Hawks that have been making a comeback in the area and has rescued several cats, a service, he says is free.
With White Plains as home, O’Neill is determined to help keep White Plains a Tree City USA. “We have lost a lot of old trees,” he acknowledges, and he supports the decision by White Plains Department of Public Works to plant only those trees indigenous to the area on city property, like the sugar maple planted outside city hall last week during the opening celebration for Earth Week. “We need more oaks and elms,” he says.
You may see O’Neill out there scouting around – Gemini is emblazoned on the side of his truck. Give him a shout out. If you need his help, call (914) 924-9315.
