Colorado Man Creates Website To Help Homeowners Buy Trees
By Jeff Todd
EDGEWATER, Colo. (CBS4) - A Colorado man is hoping his new website can help novices with planting trees along the Front Range.
"I just realized at that point there was no good way to evaluate the best options for the best spot and it's been on my mind ever since," said Michael Klinker.
A few years ago, Klinker hired a company to come to his house and plant a tree, but the starting point wasn't as easy as he wanted it to me.
"I initially thought, I have no idea what's available I have no idea what's a good option, for example, a full sun spot versus a partial shade or whatever the case may be," he said.
So he started arboradvisor.com after years of work.
"I had no information without digging through a ton of archived data. Which I've since done. There was no way to figure out the best tree option for your property. This is just another resource for people to use when they're evaluating," Klinker said.
While there are resources on the internet about trees, Klinker says they're not user-friendly. He wanted a clear and concise website to help people gain basic knowledge.
"I went through as much information as I could find on all the trees sold throughout Colorado and narrowed it down to the 75 best tree options," he said.
Klinker walked CBS4 through the features, "the main thing is basically going through and searching the various tree options through a filtering system based on where you want to plant the tree. So whether it's full sun, how big of a tree you want, if you want a shade tree or a flowering tree, a fruit tree, really whatever the case may be."
Klinker admits he's not an arborist, but he's just hoping to provide a better experience for new property owners. Later he wants users to have the ability to buy and get trees delivered or even planted. But for now, he's just concentrating on the best trees for Front Range homes.
"I just wanted the 75 best options that are most likely to not die or cut down in 10 years.," said Klinker.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.