Land Lovers Landscape And Tree Service

Michael Welsch, owner of this company, while working for another business, W.A. Landscaping, was paid to cut grass and collect leaves.  Work was never done and he never returned calls.  W.A. Landscaping said they were not responsible for any of his business. Welsch was also paid to power wash the house.   The job was so bad I had to repaint.

The owner came out promptly (he had been referred to me by a local contractor who did some initial work, that is, getting a downed tree off my deck). He sold me on having most of the deck replaced even though only a portion of it had been damaged by Irene. He claimed the wood was bad. The trees were removed fairly quickly, but the deck replacement took a while (the owner cited a death in the family). The company also did some landscaping (planting shrubs and grass). I watered my lawn as instructed.
This company is very new to the area and I think they should pursue BBB certification. There was a personnel change I did not find out about until several "missed" phone calls. Also, I was not pleased when I signed an initial estimate and was then informed that doing so committed me to 50% down; that may be a routine amount, but the estimate should have stated that and it did not. One of the sprinklers left to me eventually developed a tear and another failed to oscillate after several days.  Finally, the owner spoke unprofessionally to an employee in my presence. He did not use profanity but suggested the employee hadn't listened to him. I feel this should have been said in private.

The company was highly recommended by another service provider.  When contacted, a representative responded on the same day to provide an estimate for services.  Land-Lovers' estimate was up to $1500 less than estimates from three other tree cutting services.  We hired them and they arrived at the exact time they said they would to begin the work.  Within minutes we knew they were experienced enough to get the job done efficiently and safely.  We were so satisfied with their work that we hired them a second time for another tree.  The trees removed were large oak trees about 100 years old.  One tree housed a family of raccoons.  These men placed the young raccoons in a safe bag and delivered them to a wildlife center in Tappahannock.  

Their tree-cutting skills were challenged:

• the trees were less than 10 feet from our house;
• they maneuvered around over-head power lines;
• they covered and protected our well from impact; the well was about 4 feet from one tree;
• they noticed a diseased and dying maple tree on our side yard close to the house and asked if they could remove it while on site;
• they removed every limb, branch and leaf, raking and smoothing the ground that was disturbed during the tree removal.

They were punctual, polite and skilled.  I highly recommend them and would call upon them for any other landscaping needs.