GENERAL TREE SERVICE

As promised

Most stumps were completely ground out, however some partial stumps did remain. I'm concerned about remaining roots and possible tree regrowth, so I need to hire landscaper to rototill soil to ensure all roots eradicated. Dirt/soil and debris spilled over from where trees were growing onto adjacent lawn and now that needs to be reseeded.

Great! Jesse was recommended by a work colleague for whom Jesse had pruned and removed several trees at my colleague's house and church. General Tree's prices were lower than his competitors ($500-$800 to prune the palm versus $275 for General Tree). They are a well-run 5-person operation with little overhead. Jesse really knows his trees and saw things his competitors missed. E.g., our birch and fruitless pear needed pruning for weight reduction, and Jesse showed us where the pear trunk was cracking due to a long, heavy limb. It was clear and obvious once he pointed it out. In contrast, Bartlett recommended several expensive chemical treatments. We are happy with the results. The trees were trimmed back substantially, but like a good haircut you wouldn't guess without knowing where to look. At our request, Jesse left a little extra on the birch and pear to ensure a more natural look, but in retrospect I don't think that was needed. We plan to hire Jesse to remove our Monterey Pine and our neighbor's, both of which Jesse identified as being infested by Red Turpentine Beetle, once we know what to put in the pine tree's place.
Note that this is a small operation. Their website, which lists the wrong email address, is currently down. Jesse never responded at the other email he gave me. When you call General Tree, you get Jesse's cell phone. I texted him my address. You aren't paying for an admin, and the tree expert is onsite for the whole process. We think this is a great trade-off.

Jan 2014 update: The arborist found that both Monterey Pine trees were infested with red turpentine and Japanese bark beetles, among other issues. We hired General Tree to remove our tree, which took a crew of 5-6 all day and cost $1950 including grinding the stump. Our neighbors hired General Tree to remove theirs, which took the crew two whole days and cost $3000. The neighbors also hired them to do substantial pruning and to remove a dead tree.

Great

They were relatively on time. They were efficient. Their fee was reasonable. In and Out, in just a few hrs. Except for the minor holes in the ground (as a result of the lrg trees' roots), you wouldn't have even known they'd been there.

They were well within the price range that I thought they should be for the amount of work they did. They were very responsive to my questions, very professional, and cleaned up really well when they were done. I will use them again.