We recently had Davey Tree come out and work on the trees around our house.  We are fortunate to have beautiful, mature maple trees close to the house on the south and west sides.  They aren’t as big as the maples we had beside the house in Mogadore, but they are still of a size that a branch falling down would ruin our day.

We weren’t sure who to hire in this area to take care of our trees.  When we lived in Mogadore we always had Davey Tree come out because they were based in Kent.  So we were pretty thrilled to find out there was a branch (haha) of Davey Tree here in Columbus.  Until I did a little research, I didn’t realize that Davey Tree was an international company.  We called the Columbus office and Kevin Shilling, the head guy, came out a few days later to give us an estimate.

One of the things we really like about Davey Tree is that they hire people who really love trees.  Most of their employees have some kind of forestry or arborist degree.  Kevin knew exactly what kind of trees we had at a glance and how to take care of them.  For instance, he recognized the weeping cherry tree with its bad graft to a regular cherry tree.  The only way I know one tree from another is by looking at the leaves.  Kevin knew them by the bark and structure.  Very knowledgeable.  We felt like we could trust him with our trees.

Kevin recommended pruning some of the branches on each of the four maples along the south side of the house to improve the health of the canopy.  He also suggested putting in cables in two of the trees so if a branch does fall, it won’t fall on the house.  Davey Tree is focused on preserving big trees instead of cutting them down, so he also suggested cutting down a few smaller “volunteer” trees so that the bigger ones could thrive.  We agreed with his suggestions and signed a contract.

A couple weeks later three guys drove out in a truck pulling a chipper and started work.  The residential division tries not to drive big cranes or machinery onto property.  I was amazed as I watched two of the guys scamper up the trees and use hand saws to prune off branches.  I had expected the sound of chain saws, but the pruning saws did the work quietly and efficiently.  Much easier and safer for the guys up the trees.  One of the men stayed on the ground, serving as a spotter and hauling the branches to the chipper.  The climbers used guide ropes and belts to attach themselves to the area where they were working.

I talked a little to one of the climbers, asking him how he got into the work. He said he had always loved to climb trees and got a forestry degree from Hocking College.  Now he got to spend every day doing what he loved.  Isn’t it wonderful when a company hires people who love what they do?

The men worked all day but by 4 p.m. they had the trees pruned, cables installed, and the unwanted trees removed.  They only ran the chipper for about an hour when they had gathered all the branches.  So the rest of the day was so quiet I hardly knew they were there.

If you need work done on the trees around your house I highly recommend Davey Tree.  They are a little more expensive than other tree services, but they love trees.  They hire the most knowledgeable employees who will do their best to preserve and protect what you have.