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If you’ve ever spotted a group of volunteers carefully shaping young trees along Atlanta’s streets and parks, you’ve likely seen a Trees Atlanta Certified Pruner at work. With the right tools, thoughtful decision-making, and a lot of care, these trained volunteers help young trees grow strong, safe, and healthy in the City in the Forest.

As we prepare for our next Certified Pruning 101 class on August 8, we’re excited to spotlight Kay and her journey to becoming a Trees Atlanta Certified Pruner.

What is a Certified Pruner?

Trees Atlanta Certified Pruners are trained volunteers who help care for young trees across the city by pruning them according to best practices that support long-term health, safety, and structure.

Certified Pruners receive training through a combination of virtual learning and three in-person, hands-on sessions that cover:

• Pruning basics and tree biology
• Proper tool use and pruning safety
• How pruning needs differ by species and by individual tree
• Urban pruning considerations, such as sidewalk and street clearance
• How to make thoughtful cuts that avoid unnecessary canopy loss

Pruning is a skilled volunteer role and requires completion of the full training series. Once certified, volunteers are invited to assist at pruning volunteer projects throughout metro Atlanta.

Kay’s Pruning Journey

Kay first learned about Trees Atlanta after moving here in 1996. She was seeing signs around the city that read, “Another Tree Planting by Trees Atlanta,” but she didn’t get involved until 2013. She became engaged with the Georgia Native Plant Society, and a friend she met there encouraged her to sign up to become a docent and lead tours on the Atlanta Beltline.

While she had been pruning trees and shrubs for years, having found guides to proper pruning online, she didn’t become a Certified Pruner with Trees Atlanta until 2025. She decided to take the classes when her husband, Mark Gilliland, retired and wanted to get more involved with Trees Atlanta. She went ahead and signed them both up for the classes!

One of Kay’s favorite things about the series of classes was the instructors: “Angela McTigue is a great teacher. She made the classes fun and created an atmosphere where everyone in the class encouraged and helped each other be successful.” She found that even though she has been pruning for many years, she learned so much about tree science and the reasoning behind the rules of pruning.

One topic from the class that intrigued Kay was how trees compartmentalize pruning wounds and why sometimes helping trees avoid their natural tendencies, like removing crossing limbs, is actually good for them. Since completing the course, Kay has been able to prune in neighborhoods all over the city. She has also taken on a solo pruning project in her own neighborhood, and she and her husband are working on a neighborhood tree care team concept. She has continued to learn over time, including this year when she learned how a pruner’s job changes during a drought and how to assess the signs of a tree in distress.

Kay shares that she has “volunteered with many nonprofits over the years. Trees Atlanta is truly exceptional for making volunteers feel like a member of the family.” Kay’s journey to becoming a Certified Pruner has enabled her to keep our urban trees healthy and able to live longer. Thank you, Kay!

“I taught the Pruning 103 class that Kay took last year when she became a Certified Pruning Volunteer. After she became certified, she started coming to most pruning projects every Saturday, showing up with a smile and a can-do attitude! She is a wonderful advocate for more trees and tree care in her neighborhood, Virginia-Highland. And she helped lead the short lecture on Pruning 101 basics at the Legacy Park Community Forestry Day this year!”  —Angela McTigue, Plant Health Care Supervisor

More About Kay

Kay Stephenson is a transplant to Georgia from the St. Lawrence River valley of New York. An avid gardener, she has served on the board of the Georgia Native Plant Society and advocated for using native plants through several other park and greenspace organizations, such as the Piedmont Park Conservancy and Trees Atlanta. Several of her articles about gardening and native plants have been published in Georgia Gardening and State-by-State Gardening Magazines. Int eh interest of full disclosure, her gardens are not exclusively native, but she is working on it. A retired tech marketing executive, Kay jokes that she is a full time volunteer for many causes but still finds time to pursue her passion for quilt design. She lives in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, GA with her husband Mark and dog, Phoebe.