Jon Malish — City Arborist and Horticulturist

Jon is Akron’s Arborist and Horticulturist, a professional trained in the art and science of planting, caring for, and maintaining individual trees. His expertise is a collaboration of years of experience and the schooling needed to care for trees. In a way, he serves as our local Lorax. Jon has the onerous task of being the one person who is involved in every single project that happens in the city. No matter the size of the project, it will always involve trees in one way, shape, or form and will therefore involve Jon as well. Jon has been with the City for nearly 20 years and has developed a clear passion for what he does. In talking to him about his work, it’s impossible not to feel his excitement as he speaks about an upcoming planting or explains root systems. At one point, he picked up a plate and a pen off the table at the Ido Bar & Grille to help illustrate how shaving sidewalks work with roots. It might have looked a bit strange to others but Jon couldn’t care less. He was in his element, talking about one of the things he cares most about, Akron’s trees.

1. What does your job entail?

It differs for every city but typically the City Arborist just deals with trees. In my position, I deal with trees, turf, soils, and design. I take care of contract trimming and removals and also the annual replacement of trees. We keep an inventory that I am responsible for maintaining. We are actually in an exciting time right now because we are right on the cusp of being able to share our technology, and therefore our information with the general public which will increase our communication exponentially. One of the things we did when we revised the tree ordinance recently was set up a tree commission which involves several people including myself, a member of council, and 2 members of the public. The commission is meant to serve in an advisory capacity when planning. We want to make sure we are creating species diversity so if some virus were to infect one species of tree that it doesn’t wipe out all the trees in a neighborhood.

2. What is your favorite part about your job/working for the city of Akron?

I love getting to work with different people. I started off in Engineering and now I work in the Office of Integrated Development, but regardless of the department, I work with everyone. I’ve always worked amongst all the departments, council, and citizens so I’m constantly meeting new people-which I enjoy. As far as working for Akron specifically, the City has given me some great opportunities to meet with others in my field over the years. I can learn more about what other cities and arborists are doing then and apply those best practices here. The continuing education for all the certifications necessary has been great.

3. What are some cool things that people probably don’t know about Akron’s trees or what you do?

There are so many things I could say about this. One is that there are over 250 different varieties of street trees in Akron. I had someone recently asking about one because she said she had researched all over and couldn’t figure out what it was. It ended up being a Korean Evodia which is obviously not native to this area.

Another big thing is that we try to repurpose trees that we end up having to cut down. I don’t want to cut anything down that I don’t have to, and we do everything we can to save them. Sometimes with construction or root issues or disease, we don’t have a choice though. People can really have emotional attachments when it comes to trees and we respect that very much; which is why we try to repurpose them when we can. For example, Buckeye Woodworkers and Woodturners helped us when we had to take down the white ash tree on the corner of Elmdale and Exchange. The tree was originally going to be taken down in 2002 for a curb project but there was such a public outcry that other plans were made so it could remain. Finally though, for safety reasons it had to come down in 2015. The Buckeye Woodworkers and Woodturners made pens, bowls, and platters out of the wood from the tree to preserve the history and to respect that emotional connection that residents had. They are really unique pieces of art.

We did something similar with a large black oak that we had to take down north of Summa. We partnered with Kontur Wood Works to repurpose that wood into benches. There is one on Market St. outside of Blu Jazz, another on Market beside Crave, and then one on High St. by Akron Coffee Roasters. I love projects like that where we can repurpose this material and showcase local talent and keep it in Akron. I want to be able to do more of that.

4. What are some of your hobbies or what do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Well I like to do some amateur woodworking on my own. I hate paying anyone to come do anything that I think I might be able to do, so I end up doing a ton of DIY projects. (laughing) I love, love, love to cook and this year began wine making. I’ve completed 4 batches so far. My wife’s name is Jamie and she teaches in Boardman as a Reading Specialist. We have 2 kids that take up most of our free time. Juliana is the oldest. She’s 10 and is into horseback riding. The youngest, Jillian, is 6 and likes gymnastics.

5. Why did you pick the Ido Bar & Grille to meet?

It’s one of my favorite spots in Akron. I was actually born and raised on Ido Avenue until I was 5 and then my family moved to Tallmadge. I came back to Akron during school to intern. I did two co-ops here and then got hired in. We like to come here on Fridays for their fish fries and their prime rib is really good too.

6. Did you go to school around here?

I went to Kent State. I have an Associates and a Bachelors in Horticulture. Really I learned a ton from my predecessor as well. Bill Hahn was a wealth of knowledge; just a fantastic teacher. He taught me how to handle myself in this role, how to talk to the public, and how to do the work in general.

7. What made you want to go to school for horticulture?

Well, first I went for architecture and quickly lost interest. I always enjoyed drafting but I realized that I didn’t want to do that forever so I took a semester off. I’ve always liked the outdoors. I would garden and do canning with my grandma so getting a degree that involved the outdoors made sense for me. And now I wouldn’t want to do anything else. It’s been a really rewarding career.

8. What is one thing you wish residents knew about what you do?

Really the biggest thing I can stress is that if they ever have a tree issue, the best course of action is to call 3–1–1. I think sometimes people think that doesn’t do anything, but we keep track of all those requests. We don’t know there is a problem until someone tells us, so be sure to log your issue.

9. What is your proudest accomplishment while working for the city?

My greatest accomplishment while working here is probably the cherry tree plantings along the towpath trail. We’ve planted approximately 600 since 2007. We could really start our own cherry blossom festival at some point. That whole project started with just a small grant so I’m really proud of that work. Really though, I have been involved with literally every project that’s happened in the City since my career began here in 2001 so there is a lot of work in that period of time that I think has been really great.

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If you have a tree issue that you need addressed, please call 3–1–1 or submit online here.