Trees On Wheels

Just had a couple Maples planted today. I was very happy with the care taken to make sure the trees were properly planted and to make sure I would be happy with the trees selected. This was not a cheap job, but you have to realize these are large trees and difficult to move and will be well established in a few years and producing shade «soon», not in 10 years. we had a couple 20 year old trees removed so wanted to get a head start on shade, not another huge wait.
I liked John the owner. This is a family run business that is highly specialized in large trees. There aren’t many large landscape operations around that do this type of work and I am sure would charge much much more to transplant trees of this trunk diameter. John can give you a tour of the place and is happy to do this to show you what all goes in to growing and transplanting the trees, and what trees are available. He will be very frank about the advantages and disadvantages of different species of trees, which is refreshing to know he tries hard to make sure you know upfront what you are getting in to.
Now. John might not be everybodies cup of tea. If you visit and just want to see trees he will I am sure do that, he did ask if I had the time to look at his operation and as it happened I had virtually all day. You will be off road and possibly on road short distances (small county roads) to view everything, even to get to different types of trees, all a small 2 seater ATV (like a golf cart), Low hanging trees will be passed under and bumps will be felt, it’s all part of the charm of dealing with a family operation and I enjoyed it, but it’s not for everyone. (TIP if you go for the tour, wear BOOTS). His #1 man (son) Alex was the only other person I dealt with, he did the installation and is a super young man who knows what he is doing, I enjoyed dealing with Alex as well. They both do an excellent job of making sure the homeowner knows what is needed to get the trees established. A word of warning you WILL need to water these a LOT to get them established, but John and Alex will tell you that.
I did have to go back and forth a lot to get the times all down for delivery, but a lot of that was my fault, ie calling Diggers Hotline, getting 2 existing trees removed, getting roots ground out, my installation was not typical since I was replacing 2 trees not simply installing them in an empty lawn. But I had the trees in the ground within a week, and they had other work to do too.
All in all I give them a 5 star, just be aware this is not some slick city experience, just good prices on large trees. To me it was a fun experience and I also learned a lot from John and Alex.
PS I rated the «price» as moderate, meaning for LARGE trees not a hamburger. I hate to say exactly what you might pay for what you want, for the size I bought, not THE largest trees but not the smallest either, I was over a grand each, but you have to realize it’s not JUST the trees you are buying but getting them to your location. Mine were easy to put in once moved to my house, easy front yard simple installation.
I also should mention I liked the selection, he has several areas with differing species of trees, all seemed to be trimmed up nicely for good eye appeal, you should be able to spot something you like in a size you can afford.

Be warned — we had a bizarre and uncomfortable interaction with this company. My guy called one day to inquire about coming out to see the trees and start the process of buying one. The adult son of the owner told us that would be fine and we said that we would call in the morning to let him know we were on the way. So far, so good.
The uncomfortable part happened when we called the next day. We spoke to the owner then and explained we were hoping to come out and ask if the time was ok. His next question was «what do you do for a living?» While that’s none of his damn business, my guy did answer that he was an attorney. To which the owner replied «We don’t do business with defense attorneys.»
My guy is NOT a defense attorney. But we informed him we would buy a tree elsewhere.

It’s unfortunate but I can not say a good thing about this company. The owner is very odd, they do not stand behind their trees or «warranty», they are difficult to get a hold of, they are unorganized, do not come when they are scheduled to come and deliver trees, and gave us the wrong tree. We’ve been arguing with this company for four years about poor product and undelivered product. I now give up. Save yourself the stress and money and find another company to purchase large trees from.