Alex Bower
Partner of Bower's Tree Services and Owner of Bowers Tree Treatment
Bower Family
This planet, in all its beauty, depends on trees as an essential part of its ecosystem. For Alex Bower, who grew up taking down both good and bad trees, it became clear that plant care was an area in need of greater focus. Growing up in the family business founded by his father Ray Bower, and eventually becoming a partner in 2015, instilled a work ethic, and love of trees. He shares that he quickly realized a gap when he kept on witnessing the mortality spirals of healthy trees. He knew he wanted to find a way to save them before it was too late. His solution is Bowers Tree Treatment, a plant healthcare line with herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, and treatments at large. Rather than pruning or entirely cutting down trees that could have been saved, he wanted to prolong their lifespan.
While many companies are making a mark in plant healthcare in the larger cities, we don’t have access to those treatments and services locally, and he wanted to be that resource in our community and the surrounding areas. However, he didn’t have any extra schooling in this field. But due to his background and experience with his family business, he had a good understanding of what he was getting into.
With the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive wood-boring beetle from Asia, which the USDA reports is responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of Ash trees in North America, making its way into our region, he knew it was time to act. Alex shares that this beetle is going to affect all Ash trees in our community. We have to either remove them or treat them with pesticides every two years. Alex shares that there are around 22,000 Ash trees in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas. Once this treatment becomes readily available, more treatments can be applied to make the trees better.
A lot of the future in plant healthcare is unknown territory, but Alex attends tree conferences every year to learn more about the chemical treatments and new innovations in the field so he can bring those skills back to our local areas and find ways to serve the trees in our area. For instance, treating maple trees with chemicals and growth inhibitors to make them grow more slowly. He shares that the key is understanding that there is more to tree and plant care than just trimming and cutting down at the first sign of degradation. With our lack of access to plant healthcare, Alex hopes to educate and be a resource for the matter in our area.
As for launching a new business, he shares that although he grew up around his family business and worked in it, he had never started a business. He didn’t know how to reach out to stakeholders or build a business plan. Luckily, he came across the Idea to Market program that walked him through those processes. The program helped him figure out his clientele and customer base, and find that niche of people willing to make that commitment to healthcare for their trees.
He plans to offer three kinds of applications: foliar treatments, stem injections, and soil applications. Understanding the lifecycle of specific tree species helps determine the proper timing for applying treatments. The two main treatments that are best for summer application are growth inhibitors and treating chlorosis. There are many technological tools used in the field to help identify decay and fungal issues. As technology advances, the possibilities continue to expand, including the use of electrical resistance tomography, which uses electrodes placed around the tree to map internal decay, as well as thermal imaging cameras. Alex is working toward obtaining his Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ), which will help him build expertise in visual tree inspections while also learning how to apply emerging technologies in the field and utilize them effectively in our region.
While sharing his business idea with others, he explains that he was truly surprised but excited to see how many people are willing to invest in their trees, how much they care for prolonging the lifespan of trees around their homes. Alex is utilizing both social media and word of mouth to spread the word and tips on tree healthcare. He has also been talking to clients with Ash trees for the last two to three years. In the future, he hopes to shape his business as one that is focused on tree healthcare, planting, and an educational resource. He shared how public education on these issues can do so much good.
He shares that something that has been the center of his entrepreneurship is the idea that “If you treat your clientele well, they will treat you well.” He shares how he was always taught to leave a yard better than he found it. With Brooklin, his wife, alongside building this business full-time, Alex is getting ready for the summer season. The lessons that he learned growing up in his family business are ones that he will carry with him into his own, and looks forward to continuing his family’s business into the next generation.
