When a tree dies, many think that that is the end of its life. Urban Tree Merchants knows that a tree’s death is only the beginning. In fact, as founder Kelly Geer says, “Sometimes the thing that kills the tree is what makes it the most beautiful”.
Urban Tree Merchants works with several local partners to give trees a new leaf on life, including The Golf Center of Arlington.
Since 2018, Urban Tree has transformed hundreds of trees that have died or fallen into beautiful pieces of art. From doors to bowls, if you have a tree, Urban Tree can make something superb from it. They focus on trees that are urban sourced, as they are typically the kind of trees that are disregarded and disposed of in landfills.
Many urban trees die due to fungus or worms which many think makes the wood unusable for future projects. Urban Tree Merchants utilizes the discoloration and patterns created by worms and fungus to make every piece of art completely unique.
(Don’t worry, all their wood goes through an intensive heat-sterilization process to ensure that any leftover worms/fungus are long gone by the time your wooden art piece gets to you!)
More recently, Urban Tree Merchants partnered with the Golf Center of Arlington on their new lakeside resort. The Golf Center had to remove several trees to make room for their new resort and instead of disposing of those trees in a way that might be harmful to the environment, they chose to repurpose that wood into pieces that will be used inside the resort as tables, chairs, and other decorative pieces.
The benefits of this partnership are numerous. The Golf Center of Arlington now has beautiful and unique pieces for their resort while also being sustainable. On the other hand, Urban Tree Merchants has created a connection with The Golf Center and any guests who see their stunning work in the resort.
Furthermore, the increased education of resort goers on the benefits of urban wood reclamation can help spread the word on what Urban Tree Merchants does. Not to mention, the immense benefits to the environment that come from keeping wood in its original form and repurposing it into something beautiful.
This is not the first time that Urban Tree Merchants has allied with another partner to work on a project. With the help of Tree Huggers Tree Services, they are able to collect trees that were originally fated for a landfill. Working with Tree Huggers allows Urban Tree Merchants to have access to even more wood than they would have previously and gives Tree Huggers a sustainable alternative to bringing trees to the landfill.
Urban Tree also relies on Digital Corporate Companies to assist with any custom engravings. Working with Digital Corporate Companies not only brings business to them but allows Urban Tree Merchants to out-source their engraving to a reliable local business.
So much of what Urban Tree Merchants does is in collaboration with other local businesses. All of these partnerships give them the ability to be successful in their business and give back to the community in a variety of ways. Urban Tree Merchants and their community partners are truly “Better Together”!