Guides

Running a plant health care practice

How to start and run a plant health care program: pricing tree injections, applicator licensing by state, measuring DBH, and pesticide record keeping.

How to Start a Plant Health Care Program
Start a PHC program at a tree service: license, first five services, pricing per inch, equipment, a diagnosis process, paperwork, first-year calendar.
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Plant Health Care Pricing for Tree Services
How PHC services are priced: per inch of DBH versus flat, the eleven default service types and their rates, the per-visit minimum, product cost, and margin.
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Tree Injection Cost 2026: Price per DBH Inch + Calculator
$15 to $25 per DBH inch is what tree injection costs in 2026. The per-visit minimum, product cost per inch, a cost table by DBH, and a calculator.
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DBH Calculator: Circumference to DBH, Multi-Stem and Dose
Type circumference, get DBH instantly: inches or cm, multi-stem rules, and the injection dose and price at that DBH. Free, no signup, plus a lookup table.
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Pesticide Applicator License by State: Agencies, Exams, Fees
Pesticide applicator licensing for tree care: the ornamental category, core and category exams, CEUs, reciprocity, and the issuing agency in all 50 states.
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Pesticide Application Record Keeping for Arborists
The federal floor, what states add, the field list that satisfies both, same-day recording, two to three year retention, and where the record lives in the app.
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Running the plant health care side of a tree company

These are the questions that come up once a tree company starts selling treatments: what to charge per inch, how to measure the tree the price is based on, which license the state wants, what has to be on the application record, and how to start the whole program without a second truck. Each guide gives the number or the rule first, then the reasoning, and the two calculators run in the page without an account.

The pricing guide and the DBH calculator are where most people start. The applicator license guide covers all 50 states. The program guide is the eight steps from licensed to first-year calendar.

Who writes these

Alex Shy, a Board Certified Master Arborist who runs a plant health care route, and Jordan Thompson, a certified arborist with a master's degree in entomology. Rates and product facts come from the labels in the PHC Rx catalog, and a check script blocks a page from publishing if it disagrees with the catalog.

FAQ

Questions arborists ask

How much should I charge for a tree injection?

$15 to $25 per inch of DBH with a $150 to $250 visit minimum is the 2026 working range. The pricing guide shows the arithmetic and the product cost per inch.

How do I calculate DBH?

Circumference at 4.5 feet divided by 3.1416. A 63 inch circumference is a 20 inch tree. The calculator does it, including multi-stem trees and metric.

Do I need a pesticide license to do plant health care?

Yes, a commercial applicator license in the ornamental and shade tree category, from your state agriculture department or equivalent. The state guide names the agency, exam, and renewal cycle.

Are the calculators free?

Yes, no account needed. They run in the page. The same math runs inside the PHC Rx app with the product label attached.