They Might Be Monkeys Texas Tree & Land Co.

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We knew we had some serious problems with our Arizona ash trees due to the drought and the age of the trees. We had allowed several "volunteer" native trees - Redbud, yaupon, juniper, and hackberry - to grow in the understory of two trees as replacements because we knew the Arizona ash trees were reaching the end of their expected lifespan. We contacted 5 different tree service companies to obtain advice and bids. They Might Be Monkeys (TMBM) was the only company that charged for a consultation and bid, but based on their reputation and Angie's List reviews, we thought their advice was worth the fee. Nevic initially spent over an hour walking our property, inspecting every tree including a mature vitex agnis castis as well as all the small volunteers around our fenceline. He explained in detail the health and needs of each of our larger trees, and we learned a lot in the process. He said TMBM would have no problems doing the necessary work while preserving the natives below. He also understood that even though the other two Arizona ash trees were in bad shape - dropping limbs, etc.- from the drought and putting our roof at risk, we wanted to try to preserve them as long as possible. He told us that TMBM employs safe work practices including the use of all necessary safety equipment - harnesses, helmets, goggles, and hearing protection - and that all workers are TMBM employees who are either ISA Certified Arborists and Certified Tree Workers, or working toward certification (no day laborers). A few days later we received a detailed written bid, but unfortunately it was more than we had in our budget. Nevic made a second visit to clarify the bid and helped us prioritize the work based on our budget. Some of the other services did send someone to give us estimates, but no one else put their bid in writing and none of them would say they could preserve the natives in the understory. One guy told us we just needed to cut all the trees down including the vitex, which he pronounced dead. (It is actually very healthy.) After meeting with these other company representatives, it became clear that Nevic has both an extensive knowledge of tree horticulture and a real passion for trees and that TMBM would be the best partner for the care of our trees. We scheduled the work for the next open date, about a week later. I called the day before to confirm our appointment and Larissa gave me the names of the crew members who would be working on our trees. We were expecting a crew of but promptly at 9 am on the appointed day a crew of 5 showed up (one guy was in training). It was a fairly windy day but that didn't slow the crew of 4 men and one woman down. Chris assigned workers to each tree and they got busy! They worked carefully, at a steady pace, asking Chris for directions when necessary and making strategic cuts, using a pulley system to lower larger limbs to the ground with the help of the trainee, who was working on the ground. They were even careful to check all the bird nests for activity before disturbing them. Their swinging from limb to limb attracted a lot of curious neighbors, who were surprised to see a woman moving confidently around in one tree! By 2 pm our lawn was covered with cut wood. By 5 pm everything was done, all the wood had been run through the chipper, and our lawn was raked and cleaner than when they arrived. Even though the trees had been pruned back pretty extensively, they looked much better, limbs were cleared away from the roof, and the canopies were lightened substantially. The corner where the ash had been removed looked pretty bare though; Chris had cut the stump as flush to the ground as possible, and the volunteer trees in the understudy were completely unharmed. I have waited to give our feedback until the trees began to put on leaves to see how they look and how they fared through the winter winds and storms. We are happy to report that the trees are looking great; they are leafing out nicely and beautifully shaped. They have withstood several episodes of high winds and heavy rains without losing any more limbs and look much healthier. We hope to be able to have TMBM back out to do the recommended cabling work on the trunks to further stabilize them and extend their lives. The volunteer trees are filling in nicely around the bare area where the dying tree was removed and the redbuds are blooming. We are very satisfied with the work They Might Be Monkeys did. We would not think of employing any other tree service and have already recommended them to others. Even though their original quote was much higher than the others, they were willing to work with us to get the most critical work done within our budget, and the knowledge, expertise, and love of trees they bring to the job proves that they are well worth the cost. You get what you pay for!

unknown

I highly recommend these folks because they know what they are doing and and are passionate about it as well.

the assessment went well.  i felt that nevic knew what he was talking about.  he suggested that they dig down to below the root ball around each tree (two large oaks and one small crepe myrtle) and remove another dying redbud.  there was some delay getting started, i believe, due to the weather. 
i did not check on their progress until mid-day when they had dug down and around all the roots close to the trunk of the tree.  the hole was about two feet down and all the roots were exposed about three feet in every direction, leaving a very large hole at the base of each tree trunk (see photo).  maybe this was necessary, but when the weather is harsh it's a bit scary to me.  will these very large trees stand with so much soil gone from their support system?
they also did some tree trimming, and removed a dying redbud, leaving the stump. 
the next time i checked on them, they had created the mulch beds, which ended up being closer to 12 ft. in diameter!  i was quite alarmed!  even more of a problem, they did not lay a barrier to prevent weeds or grass from growing back up through the mulch.  being a novice, myself, i did not think of doing this before hand, and it was never discussed.
i know that tree work is expensive, but i could have hired day laborers, myself, to create a giant mulch bed with so little prep.  that is on me. 
since, all the tree companies that we called charge a hefty fee for the assessment, it wasn't possible for us to get multiple bids, unfortunately.
the tree work is done and that is a positive thing, but it has left a very bad taste in my mouth. 
the lesson:  have an arborist do your tree work; have a gardener/landscaper do the rest.

I was already aware of the quality work they do from what they've done at the home of an acquaintance.
They do great tree work and they also thoroughly clean up after themselves.
It was valuable to understand about root growth, drainage, the scope current maintenance issues, and the ongoing needs of the flora and choices that could be made about invasives. They seem more than happy to educate people in how to maintain and improve their land. 
Now that I have used them, notably, their communication and punctuality leaves nothing to be desired.
Scope of work is clear, Reports are written right away, and receipts are sent immediately.

unknown

I highly recommend They Might be Monkeys and plan to continue to use them on an annual basis.  I live on a 3+ acre property that is covered in trees, both native and large container grown that we had installed a few years ago.  I hired them to do "everything" that needed to be done, and given the scope of the project they had a full 5-man crew out here for 8 full days.  That amount of time and work certainly leaves a lot of room for me to have some kind of minor complaint, but I can honestly say that it was worth every dollar and the job was done perfectly.
Nevic, the owner, as well as all of the guys out here working were friendly, hard working, and kept the yard clean at the end of each day.  I gained a new respect for arborists...once the work was done their skill was apparent.  They used an air spade to clear the dirt off of trees that had been planted too deep, cut off girdling roots that existed in many of our container-planted trees, and it was obvious that part of their skill was not in cutting off limbs, but knowing which ones to cut and which ones not to cut.  Whether one of our native groves of trees or our more formal areas, there wasn't one cut that didn't make sense to me.  I was concerned prior to using an arborist that the trees may become overcut or too bare, but that isn't the case at all.  They look better than ever and still look natural and full.  
One of my best friends is a great arborist in Dallas and he recommended Nevic and They Might be Monkeys as the best guys in Austin, which is the primary reason I tried them out versus someone else.   I just texted him prior to writing this review about what a great job they did and to thank him for the recommendation.  My friend texted back, "Glad to hear it.  There are a lot of hacks out there.  We clean their messes up quite a bit. People who use them [the hacks] learn the hard way, cost themselves more money in the long run and set themselves back years in the development of their trees."   
In short, if you're going to spend the money on an arborist, don't try to save money and end up hiring a hack!  They Might be Monkeys easily gets an A+ for my job.  The total price may look expensive at first, but once you take into account they had a full crew here for 8 days as well as the exceptional quality of work, I definitely consider the price a great value.

unknown

This was over 2 years ago.  I was unable to use there services had to put money toward family emergency.

Trimmer and remulched the trees.

They estimated 4 hour but it took a little longer (6 hours). They finished the job and stuck with their original quote. I plan on working with them again.

unknown

It was fine.  I went with them because they came out quickly.

I learned much about the trees on my property and what care might useful or useless in the future. I have 2 acres with many trees but we were able to check out all of them in our hour plus a few minutes. Nevic is a seasoned pro and candidly shares a wealth of information. I would use their services without hesitation.

We have used TMBM several times over many years.  Nevic has always been prompt and professional and he knows what he is doing.  We have two beautiful native pecan trees in our front yard, a ball cypress in our side yard and a beautiful big mesquite in our back yard.  Nevic loves trees and we trust him to take care of ours.   He is a little on the pricey side but it is worth it considering his knowledge and experience.

I got immediate response to my initial inquiry, and within a day or so an expert came out to my house to assess the condition of my trees and make recommendations for addressing the issues identified.  I was impressed with his knowledge, and liked his friendly personality.  I then contracted with the company to have the work done.  It took a few weeks to get onto the schedule, but they arrived promptly on the scheduled day and completed the work without any problems.  Afterwards, I was give careful instructions about how to take care of my new tree, as well as the existing ones.  When they left, everything was cleaned up nicely and the mulch beds looked great.

Called to schedule an estimate and Nevic arrived promptly and is very knowledgable. He explained in detail what happened to my trees, drought, not disease like another service said who were not arborists and wanted me to schedule work immediately after getting the quote. Nevic also explained what could be done to maximize my budget for tree work vs paying for what I could do myself, which was shred the branches. The crew stacked everything neatly and cleaned up all the leaves and twigs. Awesome job!

They arrived on time and worked all day.  They did not finish and so they had to come back a second day.  They did a good job of cleaning up.

After the estimate and consultation the crew came out and started work around 9. There were five of them working and they kept at it until 1:30. They completed everything in the agreement plus some other work that they noticed needed to be done (e.g.: trimming back a live oak that was brushing against the roof shingles.) The crew was wonderful and they cleaned everything beautifully. 

I had the main guy, Nevic, come and inspect my centuries-old oak trees that were in need of some routine maintenance. We agreed on what we'd do (trim any dead stuff that was over 1" in diameter, trim away the competing hackberries), and he had many suggestions for the health of all my trees. In fact, he even wrote up my quote broken out in "stages" so I could decide what I'd do now and what I'd wait on doing. His price was lower than another company I'd talked to.

The day came and the whole crew showed up on time. I had three guys roped into my trees; something I'd never seen happen before with other tree companies (I've used one other and talked to three others). I was impressed with how serious the monkeys were about the climbing, safety, and the job. I didn't feel like these were just "tree guys", but honest-to-goodness tree professionals. They seemed to want to protect my trees as much as I did. 

My one beef with them is that although I spoke to Nevic about an owl I though was living in the tree (he even wrote in on the work order so his crew would know, even if he wasn't there), and even though I told the crew that morning that there might be an owl "at home", and even though I suggested we might just leave the branch altogether, the branch was cut and my little owl flew out, now homeless. To his credit, the tree crewman knocked on the branch beforehand and looked inside and saw no one home, and he did feel really terrible about it. I happened to be in earshot when it happened, and heard his remorse and exclamations. Still, I was bummed about my owl and wished I'd been clear and just said "hey, don't cut that." 

They mulched up all my trimmings and, when I asked, they let me keep the whole big pile. This was probably $200 worth of good, clean mulch, which they had suggested from the get-go I put around the roots of my gnarliest oak for its protection and longevity.

In February Nevic Donnelly, Arborist with They Might Be Monkeys! met with us to survey our property and make a detailed recommendation regarding all of the trees on our 1/3 urban lot in North Austin. We had planned to stage the work as there are major zones that could be easily defined and isolated for the sake of making the project more manageable. Our main concern was the tangled mess that the live Oak woodland had become through many years of neglect. We knew this was going to be a challenge due to the extensively developed woodland gardens with understory trees including a collection of dwarf Japanese Maples, rare specimen shrubs from northern Mexico, and rare natives from Central Texas that are hardly ever grown. We were looking for a team that would be able to cut off large branches, lower them to the ground, while moving around themselves, all without trampling a leaf on any of the unusual plants. There is a stone streambed that runs through the woodland to carry rainwater in a heavy storm. The crew used this as their main thoroughfare so it took most of the thrashing of tree branches being dragged past to the front yard where the chipper was set up. When all of the hubbub was done and they were packed up and ready to go there were a few branches that needed to be picked up so they made arrangements to come back the following day to complete the job in another 2 hours. That evening I wandered through the woodland admiring the freshly manicured trees. The nice thing about They Might Be Monkeys! is that the trees don't have that stark, "Egad! We've just been pruned!" look. They look orderly, but you'd have to know what just happened to realize that major work had taken place. This is light touch in the way it looks. I was amazed at the condition of the understory...only some of the very small perennials that were just emerging had been trampled. This was unavoidable and these are plants that bounce back readily. I did move one wood pile that was sitting on top of an ornamental ginger that would be emerging shortly. There's no way the crew would have known that. I didn't know how long it would be before my husband got around to moving and stacking all the firewood so it needed to be relocated. That was the extent of the damage. Oh, and Nevic mentioned that a branch of the Red Oak came down on an unusual Bauhinia, breaking a branch in the process. He pruned it. I didn't notice it. That little tree is noted for recovering from any and all insults with ease. To a practiced eye who knows what a mess the woodland was prior to their intervention this is a vast improvement. What makes it such a vast improvement is that the changes are almost invisible -- no heavy-handed, raw edge, sawing, leaving huge gaping wounds everywhere, with limbs that are hacked and bitten as if a band of Orks had been through. They Might Be Monkeys! are stewards of the living things they tend. We will happily call them back to tend to the other many trees on our property.

They took the time and personnel to perform a difficult job
safely. 

I was very impressed with the professionalism and the clean up afterward.  The arborist, Nevic Donnelly, was thorough and patient in explaining what should be done, why, and how to break it up in affordable stages.  
I suspect They Might be Monkeys is more expensive than other tree service companies, but they are certified arborists and they are fully bonded.  The oak trees around my home are a major part of the value of the property, so this investment is worth while for me.

They were great and I would use them again.