Most cities manage their urban forests on gut instinct and aging data, and on this episode of Rooted in Innovation, presented by Tree Staple, host Dionisio Roman talks with Josh Behounek, a 25-year consulting arborist at Davey Tree Expert Company, about how that's changing. Josh explains how Davey's partnership with tech company Greehill uses LiDAR scanning and AI to build a full digital twin of a city's tree canopy, why leaf area index and percent dieback have become the strongest predictors of a tree's health, and how a two-year rescan cycle is finally giving city foresters a closed feedback loop on their removal and pruning decisions. The conversation also covers what it takes to build a 20-year urban forest master plan that survives a change in city administration, with real examples from Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Louisville, and Atlanta. If you manage green infrastructure for a city or just want to understand the strategy behind the trees lining your streets, this episode lays it out.

Timecodes:
00:01 – 02:10 | Meet Josh Behounek: 25 Years at Davey Tree's Consulting Division
02:10 – 04:30 | From Pen and Paper to GIS Maps: A Brief History of Tree Inventories
04:30 – 07:41 | Building Smart Tree Inventory: The Microsoft Grant That Started It All
07:41 – 11:31 | The Real Cost of Outdated Data for City Foresters
11:31 – 14:40 | Inside the Scan: LiDAR Hardware, the Greehill Partnership, and Scanning Atlanta
14:40 – 18:19 | What AI Extracts From Every Tree, and Atlanta vs. Louisville's Approach
18:19 – 22:05 | The Metrics That Matter: Leaf Area Index, Dieback, Lean Angle, and Trunk Stability
22:05 – 26:21 | Comparing Cities and Closing the Two-Year Feedback Loop
26:21 – 28:40 | Why Trees Actually Fail: Debunking the Included Bark Myth
28:40 – 31:49 | Who Owns the Urban Forest? Jurisdiction and Private Land Challenges
31:49 – 33:42 | Building a 20-Year Master Plan: Lessons From Pittsburgh and Knoxville
33:42 – 36:44 | Getting Developers to the Table on Tree Preservation
36:44 – 40:12 | Surviving Administration Turnover, Equity, and Rising Heat Priorities
40:12 – 42:06 | The Industry's Storytelling Problem
42:06 – 44:18 | Closing Thoughts and Where to Learn More

Resources:
Connect with Dionisio Roman (Host) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionisio-roman-iii-6a228590/
Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-mancini-743b386/
Connect with Josh Behounek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshbehounek/
Learn more about Davey Tree Expert Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-davey-tree-expert-company/
Follow Tree Staple on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tree-staple-inc

The 2025 LA wildfires exposed a hard truth: most of what we think makes neighborhoods fire safe is wrong. Landscape architect Gary Lai, founder of quixotic Nature Based Solutions and a professor at Cal Poly Pomona, lived three miles from the Eaton Fire and saw firsthand what worked and what failed.

In this episode, hosts Dionisio Roman III and Ethan Hartzel talk with Gary about why 80 years of fire suppression policy set the stage for today's mega fires, why ember driven fires (not the main fire front) destroy most homes, and what a true fire adaptive community looks like in practice, from home hardening to evacuation planning to strong neighbor networks.

If you work near the wildland urban interface or have defaulted to the standard "clear everything" fire safety playbook, this episode will change how you think about the problem. Learn more at quixotic Nature Based Solutions.

Timecodes:

00:00 – 01:13 | Intro and Welcoming Ethan Hartzel

01:13 – 04:07 | Meet Gary Lai and the Fire Adaptive Community Framework

04:07 – 05:48 | How Gary Got Into Fire Ecology and Landscape Design

05:48 – 09:26 | Living Through the Eaton Fire: A Firsthand Account

09:26 – 14:42 | 80 Years of Fire Suppression and Why It Backfired

14:42 – 17:35 | Native Plants, Ember Fires, and Why Oak Trees Save Homes

17:35 – 21:05 | The Landscape Isn't the Villain: What Actually Burns Houses

21:05 – 24:31 | What Is a Fire Adaptive Community

24:31 – 28:36 | Home Hardening, Infrastructure, and Why Community Survival Matters Most

28:36 – 32:29 | The Insurance Crisis and the Real Cost of Rebuilding

32:29 – 38:06 | What Landscape Architects Should Do Differently During Rebuilding

38:06 – 41:10 | Lessons From Greece, Australia, and Other Fire Prone Regions

41:10 – 44:05 | Climate Change, Unpredictable Drought, and Why Insurers Are Pulling Out

44:05 – 48:43 | The Eaton Fire's Impact on Altadena and Questions of Equity

48:43 – 52:52 | Closing Thoughts and Where to Learn More About Gary's Work

Resources:

Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com

Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn

Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn
Connect with Gary Lai on LinkedIn on LinkedIn

Connect with quixotic Nature Based Solutions on LinkedIn

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Brandon Comstock went from selling mattresses on commission to building Landscapers by Nature into a 60-person operation serving multifamily and HOA properties in Calgary, then sold the entire business. Now he's building SiteDNA, software designed to solve the exact problems he lived through as an operator.

In this episode, hosts Dionisio Roman and Ethan Hartzel unpack how Brandon went from helping his dad run a small garage-based crew to scaling a specialized landscaping company worth acquiring. They explore the non-negotiable operational systems that made the business sellable, the mistakes landscape account managers make daily that cost them money, and how rethinking property management creates competitive advantage.

Whether you're running a landscape operation or thinking about your own exit, Brandon reveals the principles that made his company valuable and how SiteDNA is building the shortcuts he wishes he'd had.

Timecodes:

00:00 – 00:27 | Intro and Show Overview

00:27 – 01:22 | Brandon's Background and Journey into Landscaping

01:49 – 02:31 | Starting from High School and Mattress Sales

02:31 – 04:16 | The Move to Calgary and First Landscape Crew

04:39 – 05:50 | Trial by Fire: Learning the Landscape Business

05:50 – 06:41 | Growing the Business with His Father

06:41 – 08:15 | Leaving to Prove Himself and Building His Own Company

08:15 – 09:40 | Landing First Contracts and the Multi-Family Niche

09:40 – 11:50 | Why Specialization Beats Being a Generalist

11:50 – 13:40 | Building Systems and Removing Yourself from Critical Path

13:40 – 15:30 | Account Manager Leverage and Property Management Innovation

15:30 – 17:20 | The Real Problem with Landscape Operations

17:20 – 19:15 | How Long-Term Planning Increases Customer Retention

19:15 – 21:00 | Preparing the Company for Sale

21:00 – 23:30 | The Exit and What Made the Business Valuable

23:30 – 25:10 | Life After the Exit and Building SiteDNA

25:10 – 28:15 | The Problem SiteDNA Solves

28:15 – 30:40 | How SiteDNA Makes Account Managers More Effective

30:40 – 35:20 | Product Features and Account Manager Workflow

35:20 – 39:45 | Spreading Team Capacity and Supporting New Managers

39:45 – 41:20 | Long-Term Planning and Customer Communication

41:20 – 43:45 | Making Account Management More Turnkey

43:45 – 44:52 | SiteDNA Product Launch and Waitlist

44:52 – 46:42 | Integrations and AI-Ready Architecture

46:42 – 47:37 | Brandon's Vision and the Shortcut He's Building

47:37 – 48:21 | Outro

Resources:

Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com

Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn

Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn
Connect with Brandon Comstock on LinkedIn

SiteDNA: https://sitedna.ai

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