Michael's Landscaping-A Better Pruning

Michael is a pleasure to work with. It's clear he has a lot of experience & knows what he's talking about. He gave tips and advice about what needs to be done now, what can be done later & how to save my family a bit of money. He listened to what we wanted & followed through very quickly. He & his crew worked on a couple of consecutive days, and suddenly our trees look so much healthier! It had been a long time since they were pruned - Michael estimates about 10 years. Moreover, I'm going to have A LOT fewer leaves to rake this Autumn! We'll use Michael again next year to prune a hazelnut tree that just didn't fit our budget right now. We'll call him out for some other work, too, including maintenance pruning.

After starting the job, Michael discovered that removal of the limbs of the tree was a much bigger job than he had anticipated, and told me it would cost more than he had bid. I wasn't too happy to hear that, and told him so. He said he'd do the job for the originally quoted price, but he was going to lose money because there was a lot more tree to be removed than he had estimated. In fairness, it was really hard to see what was going to be involved until some of the lower branches had been cut away; however he should have been more careful before putting in his bid, which is why I only rated him a "C" for "Professionalism". In the end, I did agree to pay him somewhat more ($150) than the original estimate, just because of the volume of material to be cut and hauled away. The job was done promptly and safely. Michael and his helper were careful to minimize risk of damage to shrubs and fence. Cleanup was good. I probably would use his services again, but for tree work I'd only use him on small jobs.

Michael was very responsive to the initial contact, coming out to view the tree and provide an estimate. The bid was better than expected, and, after accepting, Michael returned to do the work within three days. The work itself appears very well executed and was exactly what was bargained for. Great experience, would certainly use Michael again!

Came out to bid work, worked on it for one day and then quit halfway through the job. When I called him about finishing the work he tried to get a couple of more hundred dollars out of the job to come back and finish. When I refused, he said he was getting too old to do more strenuous jobs (the hedge is pretty high and requires a tall ladder to reach the top). We compromised and I paid him 1/2 for the work he had done, but now I have to find someone else to finish it.

This was the second time I'd used this service, and I thought I'd reviewed the first time but don't see it here. The first time he trimmed a very tall batch of evergreens in our backyard. This time we asked him to very carefully--but deeply--prune our backyard cherry that had gotten out of control, as well as shape our 2 small front yard cherries that are critical to the "curb appeal" of our house. He loves this kind of assignment because it requires more expertise than just your standard trim. He considered which branches to remove with an eye to how the trees would fill back in. Importantly, he told us exactly what he planned on cutting before he did it, so that we could be sure we'd communicated what we wanted correctly. He was prompt on the appointed day; it was a very short time from when I called to when he could do the work (I don't remember now, but maybe a day); and he worked quickly and well.

Very responsive and professional. Knew what to do and how to do it.

One of the best service experiences I've ever had. Michael was on-time, on-budget, and unbelievably efficient. I had a nasty cleanup job that would have taken me weeks on my own - clearing overgrown brush from my backyard. I asked him to clear many, many truckloads of ivy, morning glory, and blackberry bushes all the way down to the roots. Not only did his team blow me away by taking care of the whole job in 2 DAYS, Michael did a little tree limbing and additional dead vegetation removal while he was there (we negotiated on-the-spot for the additional removal work). Very easy to work with, delivered exactly what he said he would deliver, and didn't need a bunch of supervision, which was critical for me as I have a complicated schedule. I've already asked him for a quote for some more work and plan to hire him again in the coming weeks. I don't know of a higher compliment than repeat business!!

I couldn't be more satisfied with Michael's Landscaping. Michael responded quickly to my inquiry about pruning our beloved Japanese maple. Since he was working a job in my neighborhood, he stopped by the next day to talk with me and provide a written estimate. His estimate was fair and had no hidden costs. He arrived the next morning with Paul, his able assistant, to do the pruning. I particularly appreciated that Michael checked in with me mid-job to make sure our expectations would be met. Michael is friendly, professional, and knowledgeable about trees. I highly recommend him for tree care service.

We did play phone tag for a while, but he responded to my request. He came out to give me an estimate but said it wouldn't be worth it for him to do it. He did give me the estimate, but was honest and said I shouldn't be paying that much for what I wanted. So I was pleased with his honesty. I do wish he had simply driven by my house and then emailed me the same info, but I know many people prefer to work via telephone and in person.

Michael came out and basically did a lawn makeover! I have several different plants and shrubs and trees that were completely overgrown. He cut, trimmed and shaped everything up very nicely and promptly! He checked in with me about what I wanted each step of the way, and provided great customer service. Highly recommend this seasoned professional. He's also just a good person. Refreshing to work with someone like him!

The job went well and he did the work ahead of schedule. Place looks great and met our needs for an outdoor party. Thanks Michael...I'd recommend him to anyone looking for an honest and hard working company that will do a great job.

Michael responded within hours to my online inquiry. He lives in my neighborhood so he actually swung by on a Sunday and knocked on the door. We discussed his services and he was very knowledgeable about the trees and other plants in our yard and what to do to properly maintain them. He also had a few great suggestions for the backyard as we mentioned we wanted to redo the landscaping. Once we agreed upon services, he was there the very next morning and finished the job in 2 days. He also ended up recommending a tree removal service for us (as the large cherry tree and bushes in our backyard we wanted removed were beyond the scope of what he felt comfortable doing). Michael contacted the tree removal service (apparently a friend/longtime colleague of his) and had them out to our house within 1-2 days to get started -- it was a great help and they too did an excellent job. Most importantly, Michael was honest, professional, and his pricing was fair (as was the pricing of his recommended tree removal service). I would definitely recommend him.

I called Michael two weeks ago to do some yard work for us in anticipation of a family reunion in the third week of May. He said that it would be no problem to complete the work by the reunion date. The plan was that he would call and come by the house that week for an estimate. Although he agreed to call before arriving so that I could arrange to be home, he did not call but showed up at my house when I was not here. My neighbour said that "a guy" had been walking around the house and I called Michael to see if it was him. It was him but he had left the house and so we agreed a time to meet and he came by the house. Yesterday, he gave us an estimate and agreed to complete the work by Thursday in time for our family reunion. I called him this morning and asked if it would be possible to also do some power washing of a plastic cover for us. In response, he said that he had been suffering from migraines. He then said that a few weeks ago his "guys" had gone to Arizona and that he had become a one man operation. He said that he had been working 60 hour weeks. And also told me that he was behind in getting his taxes done. Bottom line - he could not do the project for us. I asked him what had changed between yesterday and today and he could not give me an explanation. I have been scrambling to find someone else to do the work. I would not recommend Michael at all under any circumstances. I wish him the best as he sounds like a very stressed out fellow. But now so am I!

I called one afternoon to set up an appointment for an estimate, Mike was able to schedule it for early the next morning so I could get to work on time. He showed up on time and looked over the yard. He gave me an estimate for the areas I need help with, and said he could provide the names of other contractors for the parts of the yard he can't do. Overall, Mike was very professional and pleasant to talk with and provided me with the estimates I needed.

Michael was very easy to talk to and willing to share his knowledge of trees and all yard/plant related issues. When I first called his number I left a message with the woman who answered and Michael called me back within the hour. He came over that evening to give me an estimate and started the work two days later. There was a lot of debris from the tree and bush trimmings -- several truck loads -- and he and his assistant cleaned it all up and left it looking great. I highly recommend Michael, he is honest about what needs to be done and good at showing you alternative solutions for problems in your yard, whether it be trees, bushes or general landscaping questions.

From start to finish I was treated thoughtfully and given good service. The quoted/actual price was consistant and more than fair.

Michael responded soon after receiving my call for an estimate . He came out the next day, was able to quickly give estimates for each job requested and started pruning. He was very careful with the rhody knowing that it was a quality, healthy specimen. He was able to prune it down along my walk and in the back so it still looks good from the street. I have high hopes of still getting blooms this year. For each plant and tree he checked first to let me know what he planned to do and got my approval. He was respectful of the property lines and only pruned branches that were into my yard. Cost was certainly acceptable and clean up was complete. I will definitely seek his help on future projects.

Michael brought some excellent dark bark to cover the gardens. He applied some natural weed killer under the bark and spread a truckload of bark around the house in less than 2 hours. He also cleaned up the sidewalks and driveway before leaving, and hauled away some bags of leaves we had raked up. Prompt and efficient, Michael is an excellent source of landscaping knowledge as well as a very hard worker. There's nothing like someone with lots of experience to make suggestions for great landscaping. I hope to have him back soon.

Prompt estimate: work began a few days afterwards. Michael expertly pruned an overgrown 100 foot long laurel hedge. He also took care of 3 flowering plum trees which had become overgrown. Michael is a hard worker. He is an experienced pruner and landscaper. The work was done with an eye to the artistic appeal of each tree individually and I was consulted during the whole process. Folks, how often can you say that you are consulted by any contractor in the middle of a job? All 3 trees came out excellently and will stand out this spring from the other trees on this block. Leaves and branches were hauled away and the yard was cleaned up and raked. Michael is pleasant to be around, and wants his customers to be satisfied with his work. I couldn't be happier.

This amends a review I submitted just recently for work done on a rental property that I own in Seattle. I rated the provider as a "C" because I did not appreciate the way he handled the extra work that was agreed upon after finishing the original work requested. Michael called me after reading the review and was very apologetic, offering to go back to the property and finish the extra work (removal of a shrub stump), as he wanted me to be satisfied with his service. However, because the property is not near me and I don't care that much about removing the stump, I was unwilling to have to go back and inspect any work. Instead, he offered to, and has refunded the extra money I paid him in advance for that work that was not done, which I appreciate.

Michael's most recent work matched the usual expert quality we have grown to appreciate and expect. This isn't the only positive work experience we've had with his firm. In the past, Michael has pressure-washed our sidewalks and walkways to reduce/remove moss that builds up during the inevitably rainy winter of Seattle. He has also expertly pruned and trimmed (and made healthier I believe) the large sugar maple tree outside of our place. At least that is my perception, as it has been gustily growing since then. Above all, Michael is a straight shooter, and very personable to work with. He never promises something he can't do, and he always delivers.

The owner, Michael, was a bit hard to get in touch with -- I had to leave several messages on what appeared to be a home answering machine. Instead of coming in person to provide an estimate as I had requested, he phoned back and told me he had driven by when he was in the neighborhood and taken a look at our trees, and provided his estimate based on that. He estimate was a bit lower than another we had received, and he is a local business provider with a decent Angie's list rating, so we decided to go with him. He did arrive promptly to start the work, but then informed me that it was a bigger job than he had realized and that he'd need to return with a helper, which he did the following day. Several times while performing the work he complained to me that it was a tougher job than he usually took on. At first, I made pleasant and sympathetic replies, but after being told for the tenth time that it he didn't like removing stumps, I suggested that he cease work and that I would pay him for what he'd already accomplished and hire another firm to finish the job. He got a little testy and insisted that he would finish the job, which he did. He completed all of the work we had requested and cleaned up afterward, so I'd rate the work as adequate. He brought along a radio which he tuned to a religious talk-radio station and, as it was on our front lawn, both I and our neighbors could hear it. One neighbor complained and I requested that the radio be turned off. Michael was not unpleasant, but he's a little crusty and he liked to chat about his family and his religion, which I found a bit unprofessional. In all, I would not hire him again for a landscaping or tree service job.

We left a message with Michael's wife and he returned the call very quickly. He arrived at our house within two hours of the call. We told him that we were member's of Angie's List and he agreed to give us a 10 % discount off the price. He also gave us a discount for doing work during the winter months. After meeting him we cancelled another appointment for an estimate from another company. He started work the next day. He was very quick with the work and very professional. He also gave us advice on what to do with the tree stump. He was very careful about how he took down the tree ( not hitting the house or any nearby plants). He also did an excellent job of cleaning up after taking down the tree. He was very personable and also very knowledgeable about both trees and plants. We would hire him again if we needed another tree taken down.

We've been struggling with yard maintenance at our rental property for some time as we got too busy with other things. We barely managed to keep the grass cut in the front yard, everything else was looking unacceptably neglected. The lawn maintenance companies we found only wanted to cut and trim the grass--and they insisted on doing it every other week, whether it needs it or not, and they weren't prepared to prune specimen trees, bushwhack the back yard a few times a year or keep the shrubs shaped nicely. We were so happy to find Michael! A called him one morning and he was able to meet me at the site the same day--when he finished up at the nieghbors' house down the street which he's been maintaining for years! He gave me a detailed estimate with very reasonable prices, and by the time we had discusssed some options for pruning the beautiful golden bark maple in the front yard and strategized the most economical way to control the wildlife habitat in the back yard, I knew he was someone I could work with! I was impressed that Michael completely understands that we don't want a showcase yard, but a nicely-maintained rental property. He did a terrific job of bringing it up to that level on his first visit (including the beautiful pruning job he did on that maple tree!) and we feel perfectly comfortable letting him make the decisions about how to keep it that way in the most economical way! Best of all, he only cuts the grass when there's something to cut! Next step: Get him started on our own yard with a whole different set of priorities!

This was our third time using Michael's Landscaping. I called Michael to ask about cutting down the plant growth on a hillside, which he had down the previous year, so he knew the area of the work, and to see if he could remove two trees that we too close the house. A couple of days later, Michael came by to do the work and look at the trees. He quickly completed a first pass clean-up, and advised that he would need to call in someone to help to cut down the trees, as they were too large for him to handle himself. He called me back with an estimate on the tree removal, once I approved the costs, he scheduled the work. A couple of days later the trees were removed and Michael came back to complete the clean-up. The whole job took less than a week to complete. Michael and I also spoke about things I could do to try to limit the growth, and prep the area for future landscaping. Michael is very timely in preforming the work and is always concern with my satisfaction. We'll continue to using Michael, as we are pleased with his results.