Urban Element Tree Care & Landscaping

Requested a quote via telephone, Brandon asked that I respond via is website as he would have the appropriate information to get to our house, and would call us. So, I requested the quote, he called up and set a date. On the day of the quote, he had to call and postpone, which we were okay with, things happen, and he at least called. He came out promptly on the day & time of the reschedule and thanked us for our patience. He went around the property, as we had several things we wanted done. We chatted and he said he would email us a quote that afternoon. Several days went by and we did not receive the quote nor any follow up telephone call. So, we assumed he didn't want the job, and we went with another company.

The trees look great!!! Brandon is a professional. Initially I told Brandon I wanted the cottonwood to be "turned into a telephone pole". He said he could make it safer without being so drastic and he did. All the limbs from the 3 trees were either chipped up and hauled away or given to my neighbor for firewood. The backyard is cleaner now than before he arrived.

We sent the following email to Urban Elements. Our comments reflect how we viewed the service performed. "My wife and I are not completely satisfied with the work you and the other guys did. We are OK with your removal of the dead cypress and the pruning of the Douglas Firs; however, on close inspection, we find your work on pruning the other trees and the complete removal of debris somewhat lacking. We have to admit that we are not thoroughly familiar with what pruning entails but, from reading articles on the subject, we understand that it is a tree maintenance procedure to remove dead branches and crowded limbs to eliminate hazards and increase light and air penetration. We?ve observed that dead branches from the flowering cherry trees were not pruned and the limbs of the magnolia and dogwood trees are still very full. Also, we found cut branches and twigs on the ground and on bushes around the trees where the work was performed. We found two branches that were cut but still hanging). In retrospect I should have asked that you and I inspect the work before you all left. I was to presumptuous. You all seemed to be in a hurry to leave, even taking the cut wood that my wife had requested." One of the workers returned the next day to "redo" what should have been done. He pruned the trees to our satisfaction and cleared all the debris that was left the day before. He even remarked, "I'm amazed how we could have left all this." In spite of our initial disappointment, we would recommend the service of this company to others. In fact, I requested an cost estimate be given to remove a rhododendron bush and in its place, a cypress be planted.

Project went very well and as promised.

When I left my initial voicemail, it took a whole week and I didn't hear anything, so I left another voicemail saying they seemed too busy and that we were going to go with someone else. They finally called back and the guy came by to give a quote which was about $4000. Then he sent us an estimate of $4200 that was based on just the materials. We called him and asked him to give us an idea of what he was going to be charging us for. He later told us that he didn't do design plans. He said he would add the details to the estimate and when he did, he noticed that he had missed $350 in the original work, which he was good enough to absorb $200 of, so the estimte went up by $150. The yard got done and it looked a lot better, but new trees went in without burns around them. The guy came back to pick up the 2nd payment and said he would send us an email saying our bill was paid off. At that time we talked about a 3rd tree going in and he said he was going to give us an estimate for that. He never got back to us about anything. I finally contacted them by email this past Sunday to say that we were fairly satisfied with the results but not with the customer service and cancelled our request for the 3rd tree. The company was never good about follow up. For me, it was a big suprise that a service provider who had gotten such good reviews on Angie's List had performed this way.

I had originally contacted Urban Elements by by phone and email the Monday before Memorial Day weekend with the hope that they may be able to complete the work before the end of that weekend. Brandon Grote responded two days later and asked if he could come meet me with that night, but I had a previous meeting scheduled. After a discussion on the phone, he said he would come by our house that day and work up an estimate which he would then email to me. I called again on Friday and he said he would work on it over the weekend. I finally received the estimate on the following Wednesday with a suggestion that they could do the work on the following day. I asked for a change in the scope of work (reducing) and to move the work to 2 PM on Friday. I "expected" to meet and talk with somebody about the work to be done before they started. I arrived home at 2 PM on Friday to find that they had started some 30 minutes early, had already trimmed one of the trees far higher than I wanted, and had taken no precautions to protect any of the plants in the garden under the trees. Several arbor vitae were damaged, many plants were literally smashed and or walked on during their "cleanup" process. I was very angry and let them know it. I asked for the person in charge, who turned out to be the Arborist up in the tree. After a lot of discussion, they completed the work I had hoped would be done. I was not happy with what was done to the first tree, I was angry about how they had damaged and destroyed plants in my garden below, I was not happy with the attitude of several members of the crew, and after promises that hey would leave my garden looking as good or better as before they started it took me about two hours to clean up all that they left behind.

Excellent. They were extremely easy to work with, knowledgable and did a great job. Can't say enough good things about them.

Brandon's crew were friendly and efficient. They quickly completed the yard services. On a seperate visit, work that had been done several months ago (a brick garden wall) was repaired and young plants that did not survive our rough winter were replaced. When Brandon completed the repair and planting, he took his service one step further and climbed the backyard trees and cut down a number of branches that had broken in the earlier windstorm. I appreciate that he had his eye on my trees and their protection - he had pruned these trees several months earlier and he continues to care for them without my asking!

Brandon and his crew were cheerful and friendly, with a can-do attitude. Urban Element submitted the least expensive estimate of the three services that I contacted. Brandon left an informal estimate with us on Wednesday afternoon, and emailed a formal estimate later the same day. They were able to come and do the work on Friday. The invoice was exactly the same as the estimate. The crew exhibited considerable skill and experience, planning their attack and completely finishing the work all within about two hours. These were two large trees in a small yard with the house, a deck, an above-ground pool, lawn furniture and fencing all close together. They brought both trees down without touching any of these things, with one guy aloft and the other three working on the ground. They did not leave until they were assured that we were happy with the job.

He gave me an estimate, worked within my budget, positive attitude thru the experience. I had them come to give another estimate but am holding back on that project for now. I highly recommend them. They made great recommendations to do on my home to give street value.

Considering my unreasonable time constraints to get all this work done before an upcoming baby shower at my house, bravo Urban Element. They didn't even crank up the rate to make me "pay" for my urgency. Brandon was on time for the consultation and never at once made me feel like I was crazy for wanting all this work done in just a week. He actually got his guys to come over on Saturday and slaved away at getting all the work done for me. Let me say first off, his tree guy is a ninja. He cut down a 40 foot tree with out leaving a mark in the lawn from falling logs OR damaging the two smaller trees that were with in 10 feet of either side of the tree he removed. Really just a top notch job. Not only did he do a clean job, but he cared about how the yard was going to look. He took time to consult with me on many occasions discussing how the crowns of the remaining trees would look and how best to round out the yard. Honestly, I had never given it a thought. But when he was done, it just looks incredible. On Brandon's suggestion, we covered some old red bark that the previous owners had here, with this black mulch. Again, I had no idea where to go with that stuff, and it turned out awesome. The mulch really makes the rest of the yard "pop." At the end of a long Saturday, they didn't have enough mulch to finish the job. True to his word, Brandon was here with in 48 hours with more mulch to cover the thin areas. Such a pleasant experience versus another tree removal I had done at our rental house. I will certainly call upon Urban if I have the need arise.

The job was quoted quickly and the work completed within a weeks time. The crew worked well and the cleanup was good with the exception of several loose pieces left hanging in the Magnolia.

Brandon came to my house for estimate on Tuesday. He shows me that he know the trees well. Nice guy to talk to. That makes me feel that my tree will be taken care. The price is also very attractive ( by compared three other tree services ). I booked them right away and they have open and complete my job next day - Wednesday. The foreman showed up around 7:45am. Super nice guy. He listened my concern "AGAIN" ( sorry I am a mom ) Although the rest of the crews shoedw up around 8:30am ( because they went to a wrong site ), I am very much OK as long as they got the job done today. Anyway, It is just a few hour job. At the end, total 4 guys to work at the same time. Two guy on the Doug fir and two for the Hedge. The foreman keeps me in the loop of the status. Make sure I check everything before finish the job. The crews asked me, at least 4 times, "does the work OK?". I did raise a question on a area that did not trim well, the crews have no problem to fix it right away. NICE JOB Oh. Brandon is good. He honor the Angie list discount and also gave me extra discount for book the job within one week of estimate. I did not ask for any of these.

Brandon arrived on time for a walk-thru to provide me with a bid for the job. He was thorough and professional. Unfortunately, it took him over a week to get me a bid. I called after a couple of days to see when I could expect the bid. I left a message, which was not returned. There was no recognition of the delay when I finally received the bid. The bid was competitive and fair, just too late--as I'd already made the decision to go with another company for a similarly priced bid. Others seem very happy with Urban Elements. This is just a case of too little, too late.

On time, fast, polite, cleaned up perfectly. A real pleasure to work with.

The service was great! I'll miss my tree, but look forward to seeing the new one grow.

They replaced my parking strip and they dressed up my front entryway. I also had some pruning done too. Urban was very creative on suggesting changes in my landscaping scheme. I am on a corner lot so I actually have 2 parking strips. They designed each one differently. My neighbors were impressed enough to comment positively on the work that was done. I do have more projects and I am planning on hiring them again.

I was done on time and they handled the rest of my plants with care. I was happy with the work they did.

They arrived on time, did the work, and cleaned up thoroughly afterward. I had forgotten to ask for the Angie's List discount when I had the estimate, but they recalculated the invoice on the spot and printed me a new invoice (with the discount) right from the truck, on the day of the job.

They gave an estimate and we negotiated the price. They came the day they promised and completed the work on time as promised. They cleaned up very well.

They were great to work with. They showed up on time and did a really good job. They also had a very competitive price. I would highly recommend them to others.

This appointment did not go as we anticipated. Although Brandon and his assistants arrived on time, we did not get the specific result we desired. Our initial purpose for contacting Urban Element was to obtain a bid on the removal of four evergreen trees at the foot of a shared driveway in preparation for the replacement of a deteriorating retaining wall. These four trees were on a bank above the retaining wall. Two were quite tall (over 100 ) and presented some difficulties as one was quite bent and the branches extended over the driveway and into the power lines. Brandon stated that he would remove the trees for free if we would let his firm rebuild the wall. It was immediately apparent that he was much more interested in replacing the retaining wall than in removing the trees. When we asked him how he would do it, he discussed a long, curved retaining wall built of concrete landscaping blocks. The wall would be approximately 80 long and be 4 high, with a second shorter wall on the steep bank above it. He asked us how much the other quotes were. When pressed to give an estimate, Brandon stated that he could not do this before he had begun the work. About a week later, we received a phone message that he had been down to talk to the city building department to see what would be involved in getting a permit. He stated that it would be quite complicated because of our slope, and that we would need to set up some way to compensate him for his time if he was going to be running around getting the permit. We had not asked him to go to the city. He evidently took it upon himself to visit them to discuss the job, even though we had made absolutely no commitment to him or to Urban Element. Brandon called once again, and we stated that we could not move forward with the job because we were still in the process of coordinating the work and costs with our neighbor involved in the shared driveway. We would not have had Urban Element do the work for us because they did not provide a bid for the tree removal (the reason we called them).

A beautiful transformation done within a reasonable time and budget. They are very willing to work with your ideas and budget. They were very good at making suggestions of plants, and materials. Responded well to requests of neighbor sharing part of project. Great job!

URBAN ELEMENT LANDSCAPES (UEL) is an outstanding group of professionals. My wife and I can not recommend them strongly enough. OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, our back lot has been lovingly crafted into an English Garden style "retreat" comprised of perennials, shrubs, small deciduous trees and a few evergreens. It has become increasingly shaded and in need of a "trim." We have been loathe to do so in fear of "collateral damage" to the garden beds. This year we decided to proceed. BRANDON GROTE, the owner of UEL, did a walk-through with us and immediately allayed our fears. His vocal appreciation, knowledge and infectious enthusiasm convinced us that he and his crew would approach the task with a care bread from experience. THEY DID JUST THAT. The project required a four-man crew two full days to complete. My wife and I were present throughout but it wasn't necessary. All six of the men who rotated through were equally skilled, personable and courteous. It was enjoyable to watch them work together. THE BOTTOM LINE: 1) My wife and I are now enjoying a rejuvenated garden sanctuary that is more lovely and sunlit than we ever imagined. 2) There was virtually no ancillary damage and the clean-up was impeccable. 3) We had the pleasant experience of interacting with some fine young men. 4) We will definitely use UEL again. We are already thinking about getting Brandon's advice on a landscaping project. FINAL THOUGHTS: 1) Urban Element Landscapes will not be the lowest bid that you receive. But it may well represent your best value (i.e. superior "product" per dollar). 2) If you are getting more than one bid consider scheduling UEL last. Brandon gives a 5% discount for booking less than a week after the initial estimate. 3) Don't forget to mention Angie's List for another 5% off.

I initially was only interested in having the blue spruce cut down. Brandon provided a competitive estimate on the tree/stump removal. He went on to make several recommendations for our pine, plum and cherry trees. When I realized Urban Element could handle all aspects of yard maintenance, I asked that his crew complete the rest of the landscaping projects. The crew spent the better part of two days working our yard. Each person was pleasant and respectful of our home. They cleaned up all the mess and removed all debris. I am pleased with our home's fresh look.