(MCT) — Arborist and "tree doctor" Craig Casino spends his days making house calls and checking on his patients, just like an M.D. This year, his patients aren't looking very well.

In 40 years of tree care, Casino said, he has never seen weather conditions more devastating than in 2012. Three wetter-than-average summers in 2009, 2010 and 2011 reduced tree roots' oxygen and water storage capacity, he said. Then the struggling trees were hit by one of the state's worst droughts in history, compounding the stress on their root systems.