The final lecture of the 2025 Spring Series will be held at the Lafayette County & Oxford Public Library located at 401 Bramlett Boulevard. The lecture will be held at noon on Thursday, May 1 in the auditorium of the library. It is free and open to the public.
The May 1 speaker is Matt Nielson. The title of his presentation is “How To Kill A Tree – Stories from an Arborist.” We love trees. We plant them everywhere. Why don’t they live longer, happier lives? Why do they die young? What are we going to do about it?
Matt Nielson is a consulting arborist providing tree inventories, tree risk assessments, tree health assessments, tree appraisals, litigation support, tree care specifications, and training for tree care companies. He frequently collaborates with various professionals including engineers, landscape architects, architects, landscape contractors, grounds managers, and academics.
Matt graduated from Auburn University with a horticulture degree and then moved to Athens, Georgia, to work at Select Trees as a salesperson for 12 years before launching Green Groves in January 2021.
His ongoing projects include tree risk assessment, pruning prescriptions, and soil improvement for the trees in the Grove/Circle and the rest of campus; working with Rain Bird in constructing networks of information and research regarding irrigation of trees with a focus on healthy roots; tree preservation plans for mature trees in Oxford, Birmingham, Memphis, and the Mississippi Delta. Recently, he’s been focused on root care with an AirSpade, learning more about soil biology, and working with contractors to improve tree planting methods.
