ROBERT SWEET

"This review is a mystery to me. [member name removed]did not make any of these complaints to me while I was there, nor did she contact me after. This was my second visit to [member name removed]'s landscape; she had also hired me two years ago to work on her storm damaged magnolia and upright Japanese maple. Before pruning on 3/11/13, I examined the tree in [member name removed]'s presence and we discussed the work to be done. The bulk of the work was on a mounded-type lace leaf maple, approximately 8’ wide and 5’ tall. This tree had an unusually large amount of small dead twigs inside but was otherwise in good health, so I recommended only pruning out the dead, a scattering of small declining twigs, and lifting the crown to 6” off the ground. I explained that pruning out the buildup of dead twigs (and trapped dead leaves) would somewhat reduce the light blocking but for the tree’s health, it needed more sunlight to its green leaves. I estimated that this tree might take two hours because of its size and density. Then I did exactly what I said, I pruned out lots of dead twigs and dead leaves and removed no more than 5 percent of the green crown (mostly from getting it off the ground). She came out to look at my work at least once during pruning and seemed pleased with the quality when done. This tree took 1 ¾ hours; I also spent another ¾ of an hour lightly pruning two fruit trees and another Japanese maple. Total labor charge was for 2 ½ hours. I always include legitimate break time as part of my work. The “over 30 minutes” she claims would be excessive of course, and I don’t recall my one break being excessive. On occasion I do take longer breaks but deduct the excess from my hours. I rarely talk on my cell phone; I use that primarily for emergency calls and for a short check-in at lunchtime. After learning of her review, I went back to look at the site. The tree is not “now a skeleton”. Its height and width is unchanged. Its green density is at least 95 percent of previous. The work I did on 3/11 is consistent with my best work and is consistent with ISA pruning standards. It is unfortunate that neither of us realized that it was the dead material trapped in the tree that blocked much of the oncoming traffic lights into her window until after it had been removed. There is space in her yard to strategically plant an evergreen shrub such as a rhododendron to better block the car lights. If she chooses to replace the tree, I hope she considers selling this beautiful, valuable Japanese maple instead of cutting it down."