Lori Graham
Contributing Writer
Jordan Thompson has dedicated her life and research to making the region’s vegetation a little bit healthier through her work as an arborist and environmental horticulturist.
Now, she is the co-owner of a company that works to do just that.
Jordan Thompson, and her husband Eric Thompson, recently purchased TIPCO, or Tree Injection Product Company, that provides products to improve the health of trees and plants. Working the company together; Eric brings the business experience to the table and Jordan provides years of field experience and research. In addition to her years of environmental studies and research, Thompson has ten years of experience in estate gardening, plant healthcare techniques, and woody ornamental maintenance.
TIPCO was founded in 1977 by Jim Cortese, an arborist who started the company to sell tree injection products to other arborists. The products provide a way to treat a tree for a fungus or other disease by making injections into the trunk or root system.
“We have a website where we sell these products. Most are commercially for arborist professionals, but some are available to homeowners,” Jordan Thompson said. “They [homeowners] might call and say, ‘I have these white fluffy things on my tree’ and we can suggest something. It is encapsulated, so very safe and you don’t touch the product.”
Thompson’s education began at Northern Virginia Community College where she attended their horticulture technology program and became VNLA, Virginia Nursey and Landscape Association, certified. Her undergraduate studies led Thompson to become certified as an ISA, International Society of Arboriculture, arborist. She is licensed in the state of Virginia for the use and application of commercial pesticide applications. As a graduate student at Virginia Tech University, she is now studying entomology.
Thompson is currently studying Vegetable Entomology, specifically an invasive Asian jumping worm, which came over to the United States in the early 1900s.
“It populates extremely rapidly, can self-populate asexually, and one egg will hatch up to 100 worms. It eats all the organic soil matter, transforming the ecosystem, and our native microfauna and microflora cannot survive. In a month, it can change everything. It is detrimental to the backyard farmer, agriculture, and to turf,” Thompson said.
Thompson and others studying the jumping worm want to understand better what it does to the soil and the other insects that are soil dwelling.
“It pushes out any other earthworms and arthropods in the area. We have done bioassays to see what can kill it,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any predators here, and will flip itself a foot in the air as a defense mechanism.”
This flipping action of the worm has been working quite well to scare off predators like birds that normally consume these insects in their native regions of Asia. With a lack of natural predators in this area, the number of worms are growing and destroying the region’s soil.
“The humic layer, humus, that is where these worms love to dwell. They will turn it to dust and will look like coffee grounds on the ground,” Thompson said.
If landowners have questions or concerns about their trees and plant life, Thompson believes that the best thing they can do is take advantage of her free consultation.
“I don’t always find something, but it is better to get me out there before you see symptoms,” Thompson said. “It is much cheaper to have them treated than to have them removed. The signs and symptoms appear when it is almost too late.”
Thompson has a passion for conservation and eco-wildlife and knows the value that the environment adds to everyone’s lives. She says that maintaining the health of the trees not only adds value to a person’s home by providing shade, but also adds to the aesthetics and beauty while keeping the wildlife around.
Interested consumers with questions or wishing to schedule a consultation can find information at the company’s Facebook page, www.tipco.green. There are products available on the website at www.tipco.green, that include not just tree injections, but fertilizers and other healthcare products for plants.
“If you have a picture of your tree or plant, you can send it through the Facebook messenger, or you can just call. You will get Eric or I, and we do free consultations,” Thompson said.
