Langley Lawn & Tree Service

Ken Langley came out and gave me a quote on the service to grind 35 stumps, pull a large root ball with a tractor, take both the root ball and a scrap well tank to the dump. He also scraped my burn pile and used the debris to fill the hole from the root ball. He leveled the area where the root ball was with the tractor. His work was outstanding and he did a professional job. The only issue I had was with his busy schedule and being behind due to rain and having to work me into his calendar.

We contacted Kenneth after studying reviews on Angie?s List. The company recommended by our home builder had a much lower rating with some very negative reviews. We had purchased a new home but had not yet moved into it and needed to have the property cleared more than the builder had done in order to install a fence for our two dogs. We had flexibility in timing as we were not scheduled to move for a month. Kenneth gave us an estimate and a time frame of about five days to do the work. The bad news is that the work took considerably longer (almost 1.5 months); the good news is that Kenneth is a honest person and while the delays were frustrating, he did excellent work and we are happy with the end result. Had we not had the flexibility, the delays would have been more problematic. As it is, we could deal with them by leaving our dogs in a kennel until both Kenneth?s and the fencing contractor?s work was done. His men worked hard, were friendly and we really have no critical comments other than the ?things? which seemed to come up. On the positive side, Kenneth was excellent in regards to staying in touch and keeping us informed. That said, a point is eventually reached where the customer just wants the job completed, not to be kept informed as to why it isn?t. Still, even with the delays, Langley Tree Service is a good company, and I believe Kenneth is an honest man who had a run of bad luck during the period our yard was one of his projects. It is easier to look past the negative aspects because his work was excellent and we are perfectly satisfied with it. We would recommend him and only suggest a discussion be had in advance if time is a factor. I would, however, always prefer to deal with a honest person over the one who just tells you what he thinks you want to hear with no intention of doing a good job. Kenneth wants to do well and is sincerely interested in his customer's satisfaction level with the job he's done for them.

Mr. Langley was prompt and replied to my inquiries. My issue with this service is that I signed up for the $99 Angie's List deal which was supposed to get me $200 worth of tree work for $99. The problem with this type of 'deal' is that it is too subjective: exactly what is $200 worth of tree work? Mr. Langley reviewed what needed to be done and wrote out an invoice for $200, and I gave him a check for $200. I'm not sure what happened to the $200 worth of tree work that I paid $99 for. It got a little confusing as we discussed several options and prices for various work to be done. I think the work he did do was very good and worth the $200 I paid him. But considering I have a large stack of limbs I have to move to the curb on heavy trash day next month; and I in essence paid $400 for this work, I think the $99 deal should be refunded. I think the $200 I paid was fair, but not the $300 I actually paid as I did not get $400 worth of tree work I paid for. I don't think I'll do another of these 'deals' unless it sets out specifically what will be done.

I contacted Mr. Langley after having another company fail to follow through on showing up for appts. Mr. Langley came out promptly to give an estimate and was very courteous. We then scheduled a time for the tree to be cut down and removed. However, Mr. Langley needed to reschedule several times for various reasons. The reasons were legitimate but still delayed the process by several weeks. Mr. Langley did always call to let me know when he needed to reschedule and why. When he and his crew did come, they were very fast, very neat, did an excellent job, and it was a rather tricky spot within the patio with wires, corner fences, patio cover, and carport cover involved. When the job was done I was very pleased with the quality of the removal job.

He and his helper were punctual, cheerful, experienced and helpful. The yard was lovely when they were done. They took out the tree that needed to go and cheerfully added in some extra work (with extra fees of course) while they were there. The rates are reasonable. Kenneth is an artist with a chain saw!

Kenneth originally scheduled to come 5/30/13 at noon. He didn't show but called to reschedule to the following morning @ 8:30am. He showed up sometime around 10. We had discussed what and how he would trim the trees ahead of time. We didn't want to take off too many lower branches of the pine trees as the trees would look "leggy" as it grows. However, by the time I got home to see how it was going he had already taken several branches off too high up the trunk. We had some discussions and both of us were a bit frustrated. However, we agreed on the way forward, taking only the dead out from then on. In the end the trees looked ok. The rest of the trimming went fine. Next, the crew removed the Juniper and de-rooted the flower bed and took out the one large pine root out in the yard. All of this went very well. However, the following week I discovered that when they removed the root in the yard they had cut through our sprinkler system power line and main water supply line. They had also broken two sprinkler heads off at the supply line in the flower bed they were clearing out. I had to have a sprinkler repair crew come out and splice the power lines and repair all three broken supply lines for $169. Everyone was aware of the presence of the sprinkler system and really should have been more careful. Also, we should have verified the system still worked properly before they left. I called Kenneth about this and he immediately agreed to reimburse me for the full amount of the repair. However, Kenneth is a good guy and they do good work. So I agreed to split the repair charge. As with any service company, sometimes scheduling can be tentative and schedules have to be adjusted, and sometimes expecations can cause some frustration. But Kenneth's prices are competitive, they do good work and I believe are a good value.

Mr. Langley and I initially met approximately a month ago to determine the scope and size of the job. I explained that the large oak tree needed extensive trimming. One huge branch was weighted down very low to the ground and had become a safety hazard and concern as well as some of the limbs were beginning to touch the roof of my home. We came to an agreement on price, time and date he would begin. However, due to rain or other unavoidable circumstances, (truck broke down in College Station on one occasion) he had to cancel and reschedule on three separate occasions. Nevertheless, he was very good about calling me to explain each time he had to cancel. He was able to finally come out this past Saturday, July 6, 2013. He arrived at the time he said he would and I am happy to say he and his crew did a GREAT job. Although it was a hot, humid day, they worked continuously for the better part of the day. They removed all of the cut tree branches, and used a power blower to finish removing any cuttings that was left on my patio and drive way. Mr. Langley and his crew were very knowledgeable and diligent workers. I am a happy, satisfied customer. When the occasion arise again, I will definitely call him! CAROLYN JONES

Mr Langley answered when I called and was at my house the next day. It took his crew an hour to get in and out, their work was excellent and I would recommend him to others

They arrived on time for a free quote and discussed our concerns that the oak tree be properly pruned and shaped to encourage proper well rounded shape. in order to allow room for the Oak tree to grow into a bald spot the pine tree's lower branches should be removed to allow more light and room. The price was excellent and he was able to fit us in on a saturday where we could be there when the work was done. The crew showed up on time and the work was orderly and quickly done. They cleaned up all the debris and were very friendly. I would recommend them highly for this type of work.

Mr. Langley was very considerate to inform me to delay the removal a few days after a rain. His stump grinder weighs about 1500 lbs. and it would have damaged my lawn. I really appreciated that. He kept in touch with me regarding scheduling and when we did schedule the work, he called me with the time he would arrive and if there were any delays, he called to inform me. He brought a crew of 3 men to do the job. His foreman and workers worked very hard and were very courteous as was Mr. Langley. I highly recommend his service. Very professional and a GREAT job. So GREAT, I hope to het our HOA to hire him to maintain the many trees in our common areas. Do not think twice-Hire him!

Did a very good job and had a reasonable cost. They were on time and very punctual. I would recommend them.

Mr. Langley and his crew came out to cut off a branch that had broken in the storm. Once he got there he suggested a few other limbs as they where cracking or already dead. He asked before doing any cutting to make sure everything was OK. They did a great job and were super nice. Cleaned up the area and hauled it all away. Terrific job and very pleased at how quickly he was able to squeeze me in and do the job. Great guys - will use them again.

These guys were great! Four workers showed up, they had a huge trailer to haul away all of the limbs and branches and they never took a break until they were finished. Every now and then they asked for confirmation before cutting something just to make sure that's what we wanted. I was particularly impressed when they discovered a nest with newborn baby birds on one of the branches they were about to cut. The guy took his shirt off, carefully wrapped the nest in the shirt without ever touching it with his hands, and handed it down to another worker to try and save the birds. There were some other areas that needed to be cut that we had not agreed to earlier, but they did the work without ever asking to increase the price. Very professional, very nice and exceptionally hard working. I will *definitely* use them again and highly recommend their services.

Mr. Langley did a great job. The price was fair, he came on the day he said he would and had all six trees trimmed and the yard cleaned up in about an hour and a half. He's a great guy and doesn't just assume. He asked what I wanted on certain trees before just cutting. The trees, and my yard, look 100% better. I'd recommend them to anyone.

Good communication and work was done in a timely manner. But on the final day of work, the owner pushed a large pile of dirt, pine needles and tree branches 15 feet into the treeline and then in leveling the yard dirt pushed 3' mounds of dirt along the west side of the yard and tree line. When we asked him about the debris in the treeline and the mounds of dirt, his explanation was that he did not want to spend another $200. for another dumpster. We were really happy with this company until the end.

Everything went very well and the job was completed on time. My trees look beautiful as do my flower beds. Kenneth and his crew were very responsive and a pleasure to work with. I definitely recommend this company.

The job went perfectly - better than anticipated. It was a very good experience and our trees look better than they ever have. Although we had to reschedule a couple of times due to weather, Mr. Langley was flexible on timing, and was most interested in rescheduling according to OUR needs rather than HIS needs. On the scheduled day of our job, Mr. Langley's crew arrived promptly as scheduled, and he was present to oversee the work being done. All of his crew (4 in total) were friendly and seemed to be very experienced. They worked very hard and very efficiently ... clearly experts in their job. We met a few times during the course of the work, and Mr. Langley gave some very valuable suggestions / advice to us, which we were happy to take. Langley Lawn and Tree Service expertly trimmed 6 trees in our park and the company was flexible enough to add trimming of two small trees in courtyards of our townhomes. One of our neighbors was so impressed with the work being done that she hired Mr. Langley on the spot to trim two of her trees. I couldn't be more pleased with the perfect job that Langley Lawn and Tree Service did for our HOA. We are all very pleased with the outstanding work performed by Mr. Langley's company. His crew was friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. The work performed was perfect. The HOA will utilize Mr. Langley's services again, and has negotiated an annual tree maintenance service to keep our trees looking perfect at all times. Clean-up was amazing - the park area is spotless, which was no small feat - I am so impressed. I strongly recommend Mr. Kenneth Langley and Langley Lawn and Tree Service. I will be using him for annual tree service and plan to use him for powerwashing of our HOA driveway courtyards. I trust Mr. Langley and have confidence in his abilities.

Excellent! Kenneth and his crews are busy so we had to wait in line for him to become available. He called to let us know of issues such as a change in the schedule due to rain. He explained things thoroughly and quality checked his crew's work in a professional way.

Kenneth and his team came and did an excellent job of cutting the tree and keeping its shape. We we've very happy with his work. He did a great job of cleaning up the cuttings too. We highly recommend him.

We have just under an acre of land and it was a complete mess. The mower broke almost a year ago and there were weeds everywhere. We had started a "burn pile" a while back and thanks to the drought it became what we called the habitat. Kenneth and his crew made our place look downright presentable. We have contracted him to come out on a regular basis to keep the above from happening again. Kenneth is open and honest and very personable. He charges more than the kid next door -- but his work is exceptional. He does flower bed work, but now the yard is so nice, I feel like doing it myself

We wanted to get bids for a company to come out to just remove the excess septic rock, level out the ground, remove the 30+ foot crape mrytle and grind down all the stumps. jsut prep the area for us to do the planting later. Lanlgey Lawn service came on a Saturday and got majority of rthe work done and then came back on Sunday to finished. They were proffesional and courtious and listend to what I watned and even offerd a few suggestions. After finishing up the work on both days they cleaned up (each day) not only my patio but the common areas and street side wheere they hauled and laoded up the debri, they left the area in the same if not better shape than how they found it. now I believe Langley will be looking at at project in which my parents want done and perhaps he will get the contract as well. In fact a few neghbors got Langley to give them some est while he was here, as well. Just wish I could share some before and after photos, with all. The transformation was amazing!.

After reviewing several bids from Angie List providers, I choose Langley Services primarily based: on the large number of positive comments, they were fairly local, a lamintated insurance sheet that Kenneth provided for my review, and a fair price. The earliest date available was about 2 weeks out, Friday 1-Mar, starting about 9 AM. That was acceptable so I agreed to that date. On Friday monring Kenneth called Friday at 8 AM, but did not leave a message. He called back about 9:15, saying he fell behind and would not be able to make it today. Postponing till tomorrow/Saturday at 9 AM was agreeable to both of us. COMMENT: I don't understand how he did not know he was behind that week until Friday morning at 8AM. A call earlier in the week would have been appreciated, so plans could be made accordingly. On Saturday about 9:30 AM i got a call from Kenneth. One of his employees was having car trouble and he needed to go help him. He doubted that he would be able to get back to my place today and complete the job. And would 9 AM tomorrow/Sunday be OK? That would be fine, so i agreed. COMMENT: Even if it took 3 hours to go get his employee, I am not sure how this would have prevented him from getting half a day's work done that afternoon. While i appreciate his dedication to his employees, the customer should not should not be put out. On Sunday about 9:30 Kenneth and a crew of 3 roll up, and after a quick review of the work to be done, they began to work. To trim the crepe myrtles, one of the guys climbed into it -- better then using snippers on poles, especially since he was very small. The pear was trimmed with a small power saw on a pole though. The heavy mass on the end of thelong pole made precision a bit difficult, resulting in some gashes of the bark. Surprised that there was no sealer used to prevent infection/bugs from entering freshly cut areas. The triming of these trees was well done. By about 3:00 PM the palm was cut down and removed. At this point Ken noted that by the time he got the stump grinder and came back it would be too late to finish, and asked would it be OK if they came back tomorrow/Monday bright and early (~7:00 AM) to grind the stump and trim the pittisporum. (I guess; what else could i say?) Then he asked if he could have half of the payment. I had no problem giving half, since more than half the work was done. But it just seemed a bit weird to pay half today, and the other half tomorrow. (Unless of course he was not planning on coming back tomorrow. I was a bit concerned, b/c no one would want to come out and just grind the stump.) On Monday morning about 9:45 (vs 7 AM and no call prior), they are back and start the gridning. Kennenth soon announces it is done. I stick my shovel into the hole several times and kept hitting the stump. So he goes at it again. After a bit, it is apparent that he is now turning over a lot of dirt. But it is not clear whether or not he has the removed the root ball since most of the the grindings are put back into the hole. To clean up, one of the crew asks if i have a lawn rake to use in the clean up. I do. HMMM! As Kenneth is guiding the grinder thru the gate he hits a side post. Not a big deal. He then asks if i have a hammer to so he can pound the nails back in. HMMM! To trim the pittisporum they used a hedge trimmer, even tho some limbs were over an inch thick. This really mangled the ends, and i had to follow up on these with a hand clipper or saw. To get the top of the bush they asked if i had a tall step ladder they could use. Of course i had an 8 ft step ladder. Kenneth said the local HS boys availed themselves to his ladders. HMMM After several passes they got a good shape. Better to trim too little than too much. Shortly after noon they were done and cleaned up and i paid Kenneth the balance due. PRICE -- as i noted, price was competitive. Not the cheapest -- afraid to use the cheapest. Got burned with that last year. RESPONSIVENESS -- Kenneth answered my calls, either directly or returned them shortly. Similarly while on site they constantly verified their understanding of the task and whether it met my expectations. QUALITY -- Triming was as expectd. However some issues for me 1) The power saw gashed the bark on the pear tree. 2) Weeks after they left i am still picking up the clipping. 3) The grinding was not done when Kenneth was initially ready to call it quits. Even after the 2nd go around, the hole was not big enough for the new tree. I had to build up the dirt around it by 9 inches, since the root ball that was left prevented me from placing the new tree deep enough. PUNCTUALITY 1) That Kenneth waited till the day of to tell me he could not make it. UGH 2) That he had a excuse on the 2nd day as well. UGH 3) That his arrivals were substantially later than promised. UGH PROFESSIONALISM 1) His knowledge of horticulture seems weak. (eg root ball bigger than he espected, lack of use of a sealer, cause of palm decay). If he just provides men to run the tools depending on my knowledge telling them what to do, there is not much value add. Day laborers on the corner come cheaper. 2) It was not clear (to me or his crew) what role Kenneth played -- owner, bidder, crew leader, worker. At times in the day he did all of these jobs causing confusion among the crew. Sometimes they seemed to lack direction, b/c he was doing another role vs being crew leader. 3) Weeks later i am still picking up crepe myrtle clippings. And 2 of his crew were supposed to pick all this up. (After all they did have a leaf rake.) 4) As he was grinding the stump, some dirt was thrown into the pool. Although not a serious issue, a tarp placed appropriately would have prevented this. 5) Gashes in the pear tree from a power saw not well controlled. 6) Asking for two payment checks. 7) They were not well equipped -- they had to borrow 3 tools from me. Fortunately i had them. 8) Lack of punctuality -- see above. 9) Not putting the customer first. 10) Stretching a half day of work over 4 days. 11) He does not take credit cards. ("Customers prefer paying by check." HMM) 12) Lots of excuses -- i was not sure who he was trying to fool-- me or him.

I was pleased and would definitely use Kenneth in the future.

Fair to Good. Bottom line, it was not without challenges, as are most things in life, but the yard does look great, and the owner was responsive to and addressed most of the things with which we were unhappy. Overall, it is a hard working company which did mostly great work and responded to feedback from us as picky, detailed customers! Having now worked with the company, I feel more informed on how to work better with them in the future. Below are some details which I will hope will help you do so, too. The job commenced one week after we were scheduled, which was definitely at least in part due to weather delays. We were advised the job would take three days, but five days had been blocked out for us. This was fine, as the job was to still be completed before I left for a Spring Break trip. Unfortunately, it was not accomplished on schedule. Work commenced on March 4th through March 8th, and 11th and 12th (so 7 total days when we had been advised it would take 3, and only the planting of some flowers and shrubs were added to the job as it progressed - a half day to a day's added work at best, and other time consuming things, e.g. raking forest cover out of one bed and most of another large bed had been removed). Then final walk through was completed on March 18th after I returned from Spring Break. There was a crew of three persons, which we were advised were our crew for the job, but three workers showed only for the first two days. The owner was present for at least drop off and pick up each day of the job, so issues could be communicated to him, which was good. After the first two days, there was only one worker for many of the other days, and the owner and two workers showing up on the last day for payment and final walk through. Fortunately, the one worker who was consistently present on our job is one of the hardest workers you will find, very knowledgeable and generally very detailed -- his name is Peanut, and he has a very colorful demeanor. We appreciated his hard work tremendously and grew fond of him, and were told he has worked with Langley for 15 years. We would want him assigned to any future jobs for us with Langley. We had an issue with bed rocks not being cleaned out and straightened as discussed, and that was remedied in the front beds on the final payment day, but not in the rear beds. We also had an issue with weed control and/or fertilizer not being put into the beds before mulching, so the weed control was applied on top of the mulch on the final payment day. The owner stated he had instructed me to get a certain weed control product to put into the beds, and I had not done so. He must have been recalling a conversation with another client, as this was absolutely not accurate. I had left out fertilizer to be applied to all flowering plants before mulching, and that was not done. The owner did proceed to the store immediately to purchase weed control and applied it to the bed tops on final payment day, so that was a great response. Whether the weed control will be effective on top of the mulch remains to be seen -- the Owner assured us it would be so. I applied the fertilizer to bed top mulch myself. Another issue was timeliness, which admittedly may have been beyond the owner's control at times -- owner Kenneth is a hard working, single father with an autistic son, so he advised work would not commence until 9:00 or 9:30 each day after his son was at school. As a mother, my work day for our own business also commences after our daughter gets on the bus, so I totally understand that and am also very sympathetic to what an extraordinary, responsible father he is to his special needs son. But more often than not, work was not commenced until around 11:00 each day. Kenneth usually would call to report on his arrival status, so his communication was good on that, but starting work so late every day definitely seemed to make the job last longer. Also, there was one day when the workers arrived at 11:00 and left around 1:30! -- I believe that was the second day, and Kenneth advised it was because he had forgotten about a doctor's appointment for his son. I would have been fine with that had I been told in advance that the second day of a job which had already been delayed so long would be so short, especially when we were working against a weekend deadline. Additionally, I would have had far less of an issue with work commencing at 11:00 a.m. if I were not being told daily that they would be back at 9:00 or 9:30 the next day. We had hoped that Langley would take over our weekly yard maintenance, but simply are not comfortable doing that now given the challenges of timeliness and scheduling associated with this job. It may well be that this was due to more serious, unusual issues with Kenneth's son during the time period of this job, as he suggested that, and if so, that is of course entirely understandable and forgivable and bodes well for similar future jobs. We would hire Langley again for this type of heavy yard clean up and grooming on an annual or bi-annual basis, as necessary, with Peanut on board for the job, and I would ensure even clearer communication in writing of all details on my part and also adjust my expectation on work hours and job length.

Mr Langley, was extremely clear and forward about the work involved in the the tree removal. He did the work on time and as agreed!!