Seattle Tree Preservation

It takes some teamwork between you and their office to see the work scheduled and complete to your satisfaction but nonetheless I really enjoyed working with Charlie who provided the bid and followed up with me to complete work. We had some pruning and also tree removal for which I did the work of getting the required permit from the city. Charlie extended a 5% discount on total invoice if I did it in time for them to complete all work in one visit. I did have to call their office to see when I was going to hit the schedule and did not enjoy the worry and hassle of this follow-​through on my part. I project that they are very busy this fall/​winter season with all of our unusual and intense wind storms and perhaps they have been struggling to appease everyone’s needs. I was confident that I would eventually be satisfied with all work, it just took some work on my end but thankfully I can be a team player.

If I could I would’ve given zero stars. They told us they can come cut our trees in September. September came by, they said oct. Now it’s November and I just got a message that they can’t cut down our tree and to find someone else they’d recommend. What a waste of time. How unprofessional.

Dixon and a crew of about 5 – 6 men came out to prune and shape five Japanese maples and clean up a Douglas fir that had dead wood and branches overhanging a power line. The estimator told us Dixon was the person with the most familiarity in shaping and exposing the branching pattern of Japanese maples so we specifically requested him for this service.
The wait time between receiving our bid and having the work done was almost 12 weeks but the crew did an excellent job and we would hire them again. It’s best to get them to give you a bid as early in the season as possible, probably January or February would be ideal. We didn’t get our bid until late March 2015 and their work schedule didn’t allow us to be serviced until late June.

Seattle Tree Preservation did a major pruning of my massive 100-​year old walnut tree. It had become the monster that took over my entire backyard, extending over my roof line, my neighbor’s garage, and shading out most of my yard.
Their arborists worked meticulously over the course of two visits when I asked them to come back to do a bit more work on the walnut. It is now an exquisite tree that looks completely natural and balanced in shape, instead of unruly and overwhelming.
They also did some minor cuts on a few other trees and removed two small trees that had been planted in the wrong locations.
They worked closely with me to make sure that I was happy with their work, checking in throughout the day. It was well worth every penny.

Seattle Tree Preservation offers exceptional quality, knowledgeable arborists and with very reasonable prices. Our newly purchased home was badly overgrown with three massive trees and a wisteria that had overtaken the front yard. Within an afternoon, their crew of five had skillfully climbed and deconstructed four trees without damage to our home and surrounding neighbors, removed all of the debris and used their stump grinder to eliminate any sign of the trees. I should note that some of the trees were less than a foot away from the front of the house! They were fast, thoughtful and incredibly flexible with our needs. From the initial quote through the final billing, they were clear to communicate and very attentive to our project needs. I will happily recommend them to anyone who has a landscaping need or serious tree removal from their property. I look forward to working with them again as I will only use Seattle Tree Preservation.

Really did a great job on our old 100year plus Locust tree — can’t say anything bad about them — nice guys great equipment very knowledgeable and helpful — the tree looks better than it ever did.

Seattle Tree Preservation mourned with me over my specimen and beloved Japanese maple that came down today.
They care. Had pruned and cared for this tree over the years. No one saw this coming, verticillium wilt.
Wonderful people. They love trees.

I read all the bad reviews, but still hired Seattle Tree Preservation because they were asking half the price of another local company. I had used them before for very simple tasks (cutting down one tree).
This time, they had to cut down two D-​Fir trees and trim several other trees, including fruit trees and large rhodos. They did a good job, getting exactly the height I wanted and cleaning up very well afterwards. So I had really no problem with them.

I hired Seattle Tree Preservation many times over about a ten year period at my home and at other properties that I owned, and was always extremely happy with their skill and customer service. About three years ago, I hired them again to do some pruning at my home. I have a fairly large cedar in my back yard, and had to duck under the lowest branches to walk past it. I asked John to have his crew limb it up a little. I also asked him to have the crew thin out and shape a large photina, and to cut dead wood off of an ornamental cherry tree.
The cedar was ‘limbed up’ to almost ¾ of its height, leaving a very tall trunk with some branches decorating the top. It was a gorgeous tree, and it was destroyed.
To make matters worse, they left some branches lower down on one side of the tree as a ‘screen’ from my neighbors. As there is a 6 foot fence between my neighbor and me, the thought that a few cedar branches would do anything is completely ridiculous. John insists I requested the ‘screen’, and I have a vague memory of talking about the neighbors, but not of asking for a screen.
The photinia was trimmed but not thinned, and a bare five foot tall trunk was left in ground.
The cherry seemed untouched, and the yard was left a mess. I ended up having to hire a gardener to finish the job.
I had John come back out to see what the crew had done, and apart from the bare trunk which he said should be cut down and removed, he thought his crew had done exactly what he asked them to do. I paid him for the job, but three years later I still regret it. I am practically sick to my stomach every time I look at the cedar.
I was very interested to read the previous reviews, as all of these incidents happened around the same time. Also interesting to note– I have another cedar on my property that is beautiful and healthy, but John always said that I should cut it down because it was going to be too big. I have plenty of room for it, and its perfectly placed. There is a shed next to it, and maybe in 15 or 20 years it will crowd out the shed, but I’d rather move the shed than cut the tree. I always wondered why he wanted to remove a healthy tree?
Seattle Tree PRESERVATION? I think not.

We hired STP last year after my wife and I purchased our house. In our back yard are two enormous cherry tree’s that have grown out of control and a pear tree that is approximately 25 feet high.
After calling several companies for bids, we decided to go with STP because of their pricing and the reviews from another site.
On the appointed day, the crew came out with all the equipment they needed and got right to work. They explained exactly what they were going to do, what minor limbs were going to be taken down to reduce the weight of the main limbs and how they were going to thin out the pear tree for better production.
By the time they were done, they had cleaned up all the refuse and noticed a big improvement in how the tree’s looked. And this past summer we had a HUGE amount of pears on the tree due to it being a lot more healthy.
We will be using them again and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them in a second.

Oh my goodness, Unilocal filtered my review! (And 19 other awesome reviews for John’s business, only leaving the really crummy ones. Unreal!)
Copy/​pasting what I wrote originally:
John, my former boss, is amazing — and yes, he can occasionally be gruff, but he’s a straight talking, salt-​of-​the-​earth guy. (And no, he definitely did not ask me to write this — but when I read the negative reviews I thought I should counter with my experience as someone who answered phones and did billing — 99 percent of the people were grateful and thrilled with the work.)
Additionally, STP has done work on my parents’ trees and they say that they’re the best because the guys do a very clean, very efficient job. The guys are very knowledgeable and proud of their work.
I recommend reading all the reviews, including the 18 unfiltered ones below. I don’t know why they were «filtered» out, because they’re honest accounts of the experience working with Seattle Tree Preservation.

I have used Seattle Tree Preservation a couple times now. I think they are great. They are considerate of the other plantings around what is being taken out. Clean up beautifully. Their bids have always been fair. I would recommend them. I have always been home and watched their work, which I think helps. And yes, I pay at the time of service. John can be reactive and obstinate. If you don’t yell back he usually calms down. He knows his trees, you have to ask him though. I would imagine that working all day with people who want to cut down trees can make a person a bit obstinate. His crews are wonderful. They really know what they are doing and take pride in their work. And no, I have not had any interaction with them about writing this review. I just thought they deserved a bit more balanced look.

This summer I used Seattle Tree Presevation to thin out my Ewe trees (which have gotten out of control) and cut my 20′ high hedge. They did exactly what we asked even opened up the arch entry in the hedge without thining the hedge too much. I had a small area that I wanted to be redone and they happily came right out and fixed it. I have just called them to come out and trim the branches of my Maple Tree that hang over the house.

They did a great job for us. We needed a dying 120 ft pine tree removed, and another cabled. They were very professional, efficient and courteous. We were also very impressed with the skills displayed in the work removing the pine.

STP just completed ‘windowing’ work on our big-​leaf maples, on a very steep hillside. John H and his team were polite, attentive, professional. respectful of our property and our concerns. Work was completed in 2 days, and they responded superbly to my last-​minute questions and concerns. I heartily recommend STP for any/​all tree work. Good job!

We have hired and recommended Seattle Tree Preservation for the past 15 years to thin and shape some very mature trees on our property. We have always been on site when they have come by so we have been pleased by their work. However, my last interaction with the owner John H. made me realize that I would never hire them again, nor recommend them. Last week they cut down of a large Doug Fir on our neighbor’s property and then did some aesthetically unpleasing limbing up of the two hideous conifers on our property line. Yes, Seattle, we lost another tree — welcome to Suburbia!
To me, a company called Seattle Tree Preservation who will happily cut down a mature tree without offering the client the option to thin or remove dangerous limbs should consider a renaming.
When I called to express my concern, I received a long berating by the owner about how the tree removal was fine, that I should plant another tree (Where?) and perhaps I had deeper issues than losing a major tree in our neighborhood. WTF?
No John, its all about the tree. No need for therapy, just a need for a responsible tree stewardship.
So, unless you wish to be psychoanalyzed and yelled at at 8:45 on a Saturday morning, I would highly recommend using a different tree «preservation» company. Consult Tree Amnesty for a list of recommended arborists.

I find it interesting that after I write this review magically two 5 star reviews show up from people with almost no friends and even a smaller amount of reviews. Don’t believe the hype!

I hired Seattle Tree Preservation to remove two large maple trees from my front yard. They were easy to work with on the phone and provided a very reasonable estimate within a day. They showed up with all of the right equipment and hauled off the large trees and ground up the stumps without any trouble. I am extremely pleased with their services and a bit surprised by the comments below… hopefully they are turning the company around and starting to provide more consistent, high quality service, and that I wasn’t just lucky. Based on my experience, I would recommend Seattle Tree Perseveration to friends.
Four stars for their price and services.
Five stars because they have a website, use e-​mail, and allegedly use biodiesel in their equipment.

We needed to get a Cherry Tree pruned that is in our neighbors yard (with their permission). The owner of Seattle Tree Preservation, John, came by and I talked to him about what I wanted. Very simply, to cut a few branches which were low hanging and dumping cherries all over my yard. I told him that I wanted to be there when it was done to make sure the right branches were cut. Simple.
Well it didn’t turn out to be simple. John called to tell me they would be over sometime Friday afternoon, and that they would call me so I could be there. Friday at 2pm came, I called and the receptionist said they were running late but would absolutely call me so I could be there when they got there. At 4p I finally decided to go home, and sure enough, they had already come and gone. But they did not cut the big, obvious, low hanging branch over my deck that I asked for. I called in and explained the situation, and they said John would get back to me.
Well, he called me back, and woke me up, at 7am Monday morning. And he was pissed. He demanded to know why I had called and that his crew did the job correctly. I asked why they didn’t call me as requested, and he
yelled «We were there, where were you!». I told him that I was waiting for the call so that I could be there to tell them the correct branches to cut. He didn’t seem to care. Also, he told me that his crew had also cut another tree on my property (that I didn’t ask to be cut), and that I should «give him some slack!» since he wasn’t going to charge me for that. News flash… not charging a customer for work not requested is not doing the customer a favor.
John’s attitude was that it didn’t matter that I wasn’t called (even though I was told I would be) and that he followed the letter of the contract. True perhaps, but not the spirit of the contract and verbal agreement that we had. By this logic, he could have cut any branches on the tree, weather or not I wanted them cut, and he would have fulfilled the contract. Despite the specific reason that I hired him in the first place.
Needless to say, I will not be using his company again.