Response from Greenstar Landscaping & Irrigation
This customer had called to schedule an appointment for a free professional inspection and estimate for tree trimming. The customer wanted all the trees to be trimmed properly, certain branches to be trimmed away from power lines and, in their words, have the trees prepped for a hurricane. There were numerous oak trees on the property, some were very large and mature. Over the years the trees have been improperly pruned and trimmed. The side of the tree closest to the house has been constantly trimmed back while the other side of the tree (closest to the swale) had lots of heavy wood hanging over the sidewalk and street, it appeared as though that side had never been trimmed. That side of the tree was more dominant in growth and made the tree lopsided. This made the tree extremely hazardous since the tree was off balance. I also gave a detailed analysis of one oak tree on the property that was covered in a ficus vine. I told him that ‘the Oak tree in the north west corner is being suffocated/almost completely engulfed by a Ficus Repens vine. It appears as though it has been growing there for years. It may be too late to do anything about it now, however, if you wanted some of the vine removed from some of the smaller/mid-sized branches, this would be additional cost. Although at this point in time, I would actually consider this tree a hazardous tree, especially since the whole lower level/base (at least 10' up) you can’t even see one part of the Oak tree and I am sure the Oak is rotted from lack of sunlight/nutrients, etc. Eventually I see this tree having to come down, however, if you trim it back and thin it out then this may help prolong the process.’ Between going out there, doing the proposal and writing the email I probably spent two hours of my valuable time at no charge for this customer. How can one possibly grade somebody on just the price if you haven't seen their work? I obviously care about what I do and take great pride in my work, going into such great detail and spending my valuable time providing the potential customer with information to help them make an educated decision. Thank you for the lovely grade.