How to Do a
Tree Inventory

A tree inventory is a systematic record of every tree on a property or project site. It documents each tree's species, size, condition, and location — usually tied to a site plan or map.

Tree inventories are required for development permits, municipal asset management, HOA compliance, insurance assessments, and arborist consulting reports. They range from 10-tree residential assessments to 5,000-tree municipal inventories.

The deliverable is typically a spreadsheet of tree data paired with an annotated site plan showing where each numbered tree is located.

Get the site plan. Ask the client for a PDF of the survey drawing, landscape plan, or property plat. Any drawing that shows the property boundary and major features works. You'll use this as your base map to mark tree locations.

Define the scope. Are you inventorying every tree on the property, or only trees above a certain diameter? Only trees within a specific zone? Clarify this before you show up — it prevents scope creep in the field.

Choose your data fields. At minimum: tree number, species, DBH (diameter at breast height), and condition rating. Many projects also want height, canopy spread, maintenance recommendations, and risk assessment. Decide upfront so you're not adding fields mid-survey.

Prep your tools. The traditional toolkit: printed site plan, clipboard, pencil, diameter tape, camera, and a spreadsheet template on your laptop for later. (Or skip all of that — more on that below.)

The standard fields for a professional tree inventory:

Walk a systematic pattern. Start at one corner of the property and work in a consistent direction. Don't jump around — you'll miss trees and double-count others.

Number as you go. Each tree gets a sequential number. Mark that number on your site plan at the tree's approximate location. If you're using physical tags, attach them to the tree facing the same direction (typically road-facing).

Record data immediately. Don't plan to "come back and fill in details later." By tree #50, you won't remember what tree #12 looked like. Record species, DBH, and condition the moment you're standing at the tree.

Take photos at each tree. At minimum: one full-tree photo showing overall form. Add close-ups of any defects, cavities, co-dominant stems, or notable features. Label or link each photo to its tree number — this is where most arborists lose time later.

Photos are the part of tree inventories that causes the most post-field headaches. The problem isn't taking the photos — it's organizing them afterwards.

The camera roll problem. You finish a 200-tree survey with 400+ photos in your camera roll. They're all named IMG_4521.jpg through IMG_4987.jpg. Which one is tree #47? Was that the cavity shot or the full tree? You'll spend an hour sorting photos into folders back at the office.

Best practice: Link each photo to its tree number at the moment you take it. Whether that's a note on paper, a naming convention, or a tool that handles it automatically — don't defer this step.

The traditional post-field workflow looks like this:

1. Transcribe hand-written field notes into a spreadsheet
2. Sort and rename photos, organize into folders by tree number
3. Scan or photograph the marked-up site plan
4. Compile everything into a report package for the client

For a 100-tree survey, this office work takes 2-4 hours. For a 500-tree municipal inventory, it can take days. It's the most tedious part of the job, and it's where transcription errors creep in.

The deliverable is usually: an Excel spreadsheet with all tree data, an annotated site plan showing tree locations, organized photos, and sometimes a written summary or recommendations narrative.

Inconsistent numbering. You skip a number, or accidentally assign the same number to two trees. The site plan and spreadsheet don't match. Clients notice.

Illegible field notes. You're standing in rain, wearing gloves, rushing. Your handwriting degrades. Back at the office, you're guessing whether that says "Fair" or "Poor."

Disconnected photos. 300 photos in your camera roll, no idea which tree they belong to. You spend an hour matching photos to tree numbers by memory and timestamp.

Data entry errors. Transcribing hand-written field notes into a spreadsheet is error-prone. A mistyped DBH or wrong species can undermine the whole report's credibility.

Scope creep. The client says "just the trees in the front yard" but you start cataloging the backyard too. Clarify scope before you start — not midway through.

The workflow described above — print, mark, photograph, transcribe, organize, export — has been the standard for decades. It works. But every step involves re-entering or re-organizing data that already exists.

LogLog compresses the entire workflow into one tool. Load your PDF site plan, tap to drop numbered tree markers, enter species and DBH on the spot, snap photos that auto-link to their tree, and export a client-ready ZIP with the spreadsheet, annotated plan, and organized photos. One visit. One export.

No printing, no hand-marking, no transcription, no photo sorting.