Checklist 

Our ratings of area tree care services on our Ratings Tables should help you find professionals who will give you sound advice and high-quality work. But before hiring any firm, get competitive bids from several. For tree removal jobs, we found big price differences. You usually don’t even have to be home to get bids. 

Get the details of what will be done in a written contract. For example, in a tree removal contract, specify who will clean up, haul away debris and wood, and remove the stump. What is not specified very likely will not get done. This article gives you terms to tie down in pruning, spraying, fertilizing, and removal contracts. 

Our article also gives you advice on spotting tree-health problems and gives a few guidelines on planting, fertilizing, and pruning. 

Introduction 

If you are a romantic, you may feel—like Joyce Kilmer—that you’ll “never see a poem lovely as a tree.” If you lean toward the pragmatic, you may see trees as a capital investment—energy-saving, beautifying, property-enhancing, carbon-reducing assets. 

Romantic or pragmatic, you benefit from trees. And from time to time, you will need to pay attention to your trees to maintain those benefits for yourself and for generations to come. 

This article will advise you on how to tell if your trees need work, how to get help determining what care is needed, how to choose a professional to do the work, how to deal with the firm, and how to do a few tasks for yourself to avoid needing a professional. 

Checking in on Your Trees 

You don’t need an advanced degree in arboriculture to spot many problems for which your trees might need work. Like most plants, trees have ways of showing when they may be in distress. Several times a year, examine your trees for the following— 

• Discolored leaves or leaves that are smaller than normal or thinning in the tree’s crown; 
• Roots pulled loose from the ground or fungal growths on roots or on the main trunk; 
• Dead or fallen branches that are more than two inches in diameter; 
• Deep vertical cracks on opposite sides of the main trunk; 
• Sawdust on the trunk from wood-boring insects; 
• A trunk that noticeably leans in one direction, or a branch canopy that is not roughly balanced; or 
• Other unusual deformations or deposits on leaves, limbs, or bark. 

Other reasons for tree work include the need to reduce the risk to your house or electrical or phone wires from rubbing limbs or overhanging limbs that might fall; a desire to have more light and breezes reach your house, garden, or lawn; and the need to prevent damage to foundations and drainage systems from invading roots. 

In many cases, the problem and the solution will be obvious—removal of specific limbs or spraying for an easily recognized pest, for example. But sometimes diagnosis and treatment may be as difficult for a tree as for a human. At those times, you’ll want expert advice. 

One source of advice is tree care firms. You can have a firm’s representative come and give you recommendations and a bid for treatment. But you can’t assume that all tree care firm estimators will be able to determine what’s wrong and what’s needed. 

Many trees are lost because they are not given the correct preventive treatment—often because they are inaccurately diagnosed, or the advice of “experts” is wrong. Tree care firms sometimes create problems by wiping out pests’ natural predators. Sometimes there is unnecessary spraying for problems that would have cured themselves. When we have “tested” firms by asking their experts questions, we’ve often gotten wrong answers. 

For your trees’ health, as for your own health care, your best protection is to get more than one opinion. Invite representatives of several firms to your home to give you estimates. Ask each to explain what he or she plans to do and why. You can also get advice from the sources listed below. Alternatively, you can pay for the services of a consulting arborist. You can get the names of consulting arborists who are members of the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA) by visiting www.asca-consultants.org, or by calling them at 301-947-0483. To become an ASCA member, an arborist must have at least five years experience in arboriculture and a four-year degree in arboriculture or a closely related field or a corresponding number of continuing education credits. All members of ASCA must also receive 30 continuing education units every two years to maintain their membership status. There are additional requirements to be a “registered” ASCA member: successful completion of the ASCA’s Consulting Academy and having three consulting reports successfully reviewed. 

The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) at www.isa-arbor.com has similar requirements for its members to become certified arborists. To become certified, an arborist must have at least three years of experience in arboriculture (or a combination of experience and education) and must pass an exam. Certification lasts for three years. A certified arborist must accumulate 30 continuing education credits every three years to maintain his or her certification, or must retake the exam every three years to recertify. 

Although ASCA and ISA members ordinarily have their own tree care firms, you can ensure objectivity by agreeing to pay a consultation fee and by explaining to the arborist that you will not be using his or her firm for any recommended service. 

Naturally, the amount of effort you’ll want to put into getting sound advice will depend on how highly you value your trees and how costly you think the needed work might be. 

For tips on caring for trees, check the websites for ISA (www.isa-arbor.com) or the Tree Care Industry Association (www.treecareindustry.org), or check with the other sources of expert advice listed below. 

Finding Expert Help 

Our Surveys of Customers 

Our Ratings Tables will help you select firms to have to your home for advice or to do the required work. We surveyed area CHECKBOOK and Consumer Reports subscribers and asked them to rate tree care services they had used. Our Ratings Tables show the results of our survey for tree care firms that received 10 or more ratings. (For more information on our customer survey and other research methods, click here.) 

Although customers may not be good at judging a firm’s diagnostic skills, feedback we’ve received from these raters shows that it is easy for tree care customers to judge the quality of most other aspects of service, and you can see that the news is not all good— 

• “Failed to grind stump and roots completely. Caused severe damage to nice lawn. When I complained, he just told me how long he’d been doing business and that he was right. Nice way to treat a customer.” 
• “A large maple tree was to be pruned. Employees cut off three or four lateral limbs at bottom of tree—never touched upper portion of tree... Did a terrible job on pruning two holly bushes and [another] maple tree.” 
• “Cut wrong trees, staff admitted it is an ongoing problem...” 
• “Left stumps and roots that were covered up and were discovered by landscaper. [The firm] never removed them even after a number of phone calls. Cost me $400 more by another tree service to have them removed.” 
• “While trimming my tree, worker accidentally cut a support rope, dropping a huge limb on my house damaging my roof and gutter to the tune of $1,100. Also, left huge ruts in my lawn. Asked him to file a claim on his insurance; he suggested that we call our home insurance.” 

On the other hand, many firms earned consistently top ratings and favorable comments. Our Ratings Tables list several firms that were rated “superior” overall by at least 90 percent of their surveyed customers. 

Complaints 

On our Ratings Tables, for firms that were evaluated in our last full, published article, we show counts of complaints we gathered from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for a recent three-year period and the number of complaints on file with local government consumer protection offices for a recent two-year period. 

Where we were able to, we have also reported on our Ratings Tables a complaint rate for each firm, calculated by dividing the number of complaints by our measure of the number of full-time-equivalent employees who perform residential work for the firms. These complaint rates are intended as a rough way to take into account volume of work and the fact that firms that do more work are exposed to a greater risk of incurring complaints. 

You can check current BBB complaint information on any firm by contacting the BBB at 202-393-8000 or by visiting www.dc.bbb.org. For firms that were evaluated in our last full, published article, in the details under the firm’s listing, click a link to the local BBB to go directly to the BBB’s most up-to-date report on any complaints about the firm. 

Consumer protection offices in the District, Fairfax County, and Montgomery County also have available online databases that let you check complaint histories on any firm. See below for links and contact information. 

Licensure 

Firms operating in Maryland must be licensed to do just about any tree care work—including removal—for trees that are taller than 20 feet. Licensure means that at least one employee of the firm has passed a difficult written, state-given exam. About 70 percent of the exams taken are failed. To qualify to sit for the exam, the candidate must have taken at least two years of college coursework at an accredited program in forestry, arboriculture, horticulture, or applied agricultural sciences, and have worked for at least one year with a licensed tree care expert. To check on a firm’s licensure status, visit www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/tree_expert_search.asp or call 877-620-8367. 

Neither the District nor Virginia requires tree care firms be licensed. 

Employee Certification 

We asked each firm whether it has at least one employee certified as an arborist by the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA) or the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Of the firms in our study, almost all reported having at least one employee certified by one of these associations. To check on firms, you can ask for names of certified arborists, then check names at www.asca-consultants.org or at www.isa-arbor.com. You might want to ask the firm to send a specifically named arborist to your home. 

Payment Policy 

You’ll want to check with firms to see how much of the price of your job you can pay at completion of the job or later. Holding back payment gives you leverage to assure that work is done properly and on time. Most firms will allow you to hold back the entire amount until completion, but a few require that at least half be paid earlier. If possible, make all payments by credit card, which will give you the right to withhold payment under the Fair Credit Billing Act if things don’t go as planned. 

Insurance 

You’ll also want to check whether a firm has liability insurance and worker’s compensation insurance currently in effect. Ask to see certificates of insurance and call the firm’s insurance carrier to verify. If a firm is not properly insured, it may not be able to compensate you for damage it does to you or your property and may not be able to pay for injury to its own workers, to other persons, or to your neighbors’ property. If the firm can’t pay, you may be left holding the bag—even for injuries to the firm’s own workers. This is a serious concern since high-powered equipment, heavy branches and trunks, heights, and proximity to power lines make tree work dangerous. 

Cutting Costs 

When you are satisfied about a firm’s quality, price will become your primary consideration. 

Table 1 shows illustrative low, average, and high prices CHECKBOOK shoppers received from area tree care firms for several different tree removal jobs. (Our shoppers did not reveal their affiliation with CHECKBOOK when soliciting the bids.) As you can see, the price differences can be striking—for example, from $1,945 to $6,300 for one of the jobs, so you’ll want to be sure to get multiple competitive bids for your work. 

As you seek bids, keep these points in mind: 

• You’ll have a hard time reaching the estimators at some firms during working hours, when crews are out on the job. Be prepared to leave a number where you can be reached during evenings or on weekends. 
• Not every estimator who promises to come will actually show up. No-shows are a common complaint about tree care services. It makes sense to invite more firms than you need to come out, then cancel some firms when you have enough bids. 
• Estimators usually come during daylight hours. You typically don’t have to be there so long as you provide careful instructions on exactly what you want done. 
• To be sure you know what is being offered, get itemized, written bids. 
• If the following are not in a written bid for tree removal or pruning, they probably aren’t included in the price: cleaning up the area, hauling away the debris, cutting wood to desirable firewood lengths, splitting wood, stacking wood, and removing the stump. If you want such work done, be sure to have firms include it in their bids. 
• Other points you should be sure are clarified in tree removal or pruning bids (and in the contract that follows) are the dates by which work will begin and end, whether branches will be lowered or dropped, who is responsible for damages, and in general, exactly what will be done (for example, “removal of all dead, dying, or weak branches of at least one-inch diameter”). 
• Points to be covered in bids (and contracts) for spraying include type of spray and spray equipment to be used, pest or disease to be treated, and what you must do to prepare (for example, cover lawn furniture). 
• Finally, for fertilizing jobs, you’ll want specifics on the type and amount of fertilizer to be used and how it will be applied (for example, by drilling holes in the ground or by injection into the tree). 

You may be able to get a better price than you’d otherwise get for pruning and removal jobs if you can schedule work for the winter, when the firms are less busy and when there will be less debris to haul away. Savings are also possible in many cases by arranging for a group of neighbors to contract for work at the same time. 

After you have bids on the work you want done, have the firm you choose write up a fixed-price contract for both you and the firm to sign. 

What You Can Do 

In case you might want to do some work yourself, here is some quick advice on pruning, fertilizing, and planting trees. This information will also help you judge work of professionals you might hire. 

Planting New Trees 

The International Society of Arboriculture recommends the following when planting new trees. 

The ideal time to plant most types of trees and shrubs is during the dormant season—in the fall after leaf-drop or early spring before bud-break. Weather conditions are cool and allow plants to establish roots in the new location before spring rains and summer heat stimulate new top growth. However, trees properly cared for in a nursery or garden center, and given the appropriate care during transport to prevent damage, can be planted throughout the growing season. In either situation, proper handling during planting is essential to ensure a healthy future for new trees and shrubs. 

Before you begin digging a hole for your tree, be sure you have had all underground utilities located. 

If the tree you are planting is balled and burlapped, or bare rooted, it is important to understand that the tree’s root system has been reduced by 90 to 95 percent from its original size during transplanting. As a result of the trauma caused by the digging process, trees will commonly exhibit what is known as transplant shock (TS). TS is indicated by slow growth and reduced vigor following transplanting. Proper site preparation before and during planting, coupled with good follow-up care, will reduce the amount of time the plant experiences TS and will allow the tree quickly to establish in its new location. Carefully follow eight simple steps and you can significantly reduce the stress placed on the tree at the time of planting. 

1.    Dig a shallow, broad planting hole. Make the hole wide—as much as three times the diameter of the root ball—but only as deep as the root ball. It is important to make the hole wide because the roots on the newly planted tree must push through surrounding soil to establish. On many planting sites, the existing soil has been compacted and is unsuitable for healthy root growth. Breaking up the soil in a large area around the tree provides the newly emerging roots room to expand into loose soil to hasten establishment. 

2.    Identify the trunk flare. The trunk flare is where the roots spread at the base of the tree. This point should be partially visible after the tree has been planted. If the trunk flare is not partially visible, you may have to remove some soil from the top of the root ball. Find the flare so you can determine how deep the hole needs to be for proper planting. 

3.    Place the tree at the proper height. Before placing the tree in the hole, check to see that the hole has been dug to the proper depth, and no more. The majority of the roots on the newly planted tree will develop in the top 12 inches of soil. If the tree is planted too deep, new roots will have difficulty developing due to a lack of air. It is better to plant the tree a little high, one to two inches above the the trunk flare, than to plant it at or below the original growing level. This will allow for some settling. To avoid damage when setting the tree in the hole, always lift the tree by the root ball, never by the trunk. 

4.    Straighten the tree in the hole. Before you begin backfilling, have someone view the tree from several directions to confirm the tree is straight. Once you begin backfilling it is difficult to reposition. 

5.    Fill the hole, gently but firmly. Fill the hole about one-third full and gently but firmly pack the soil around the base of the root ball. Then, if the tree is balled and burlapped, cut and remove the string and wire from around the trunk and top one-third of the root ball. Be careful not to damage the trunk or roots in the process. Fill the remainder of the hole, taking care to pack soil firmly to eliminate air pockets that may cause roots to dry out. To avoid the air-pocket problem, add the soil a few inches at a time and settle with water. Continue this process until the hole is filled and the tree is firmly planted. It is not recommended to apply fertilizer at the time of planting. 

6.    Stake the tree, if necessary. If the tree is grown and dug properly at the nursery, staking for support is not necessary in most home landscape situations. Studies have shown that trees will establish more quickly and develop stronger trunk and root systems if they are not staked at the time of planting. However, protective staking may be a good idea on sites where lawn mower damage, vandalism, or windy conditions are concerns. If staking is necessary for support, two stakes used in conjunction with a wide, flexible tie material will hold the tree upright, provide flexibility, and minimize injury to the trunk. Remove support staking and ties after the first year of growth. Leave protective staking in place as long as necessary. 

7.    Mulch the base of the tree. Mulch is simply organic matter applied to the area at the base of the tree. It acts as a blanket to hold moisture and protect against harsh soil temperatures, both hot and cold. It also reduces competition from grass and weeds. Some good choices are leaf litter, pine straw, shredded bark, peat moss, and wood chips. A two-to-four-inch layer is ideal. When placing mulch, care should be taken so that the actual trunk of the tree is not covered. This may cause decay of the living bark at the base of the tree. A mulch-free area, one to two inches wide at the base of the tree, is sufficient to avoid moist bark conditions and prevent decay. 

8.    Follow-up care. Keep the soil moist but not soaked. Water newly planted trees at least once a week, barring rain, and more frequently during warm weather. When the soil is dry below the surface of the mulch, it is time to water. Continue until mid-fall, tapering off as temperatures drop. 

Other follow-up care may include minor pruning of branches damaged during the planting process. Prune sparingly immediately after planting, and wait to begin necessary corrective pruning until after a full season of growth in the new location. 

You can find the above advice, as well as other information on tree care, on ISA’s website (www.isa-arbor.com). You can also contact the ISA at P.O. Box 3129, Champaign, IL 61826. 

Pruning 

Whether done by you or by a professional, pruning is important to a tree’s health. Targets for pruning are: 

• Dead, dying, or unsightly parts; 
• Sprouts growing at or near the base of a tree trunk; 
• Branches that grow toward the center of a tree; 
• Crossed branches that rub together; 
• Branches that interfere with power or telephone lines or that might rub against or fall on your house (if power lines are the problem, leave it to a professional); 
• Branches that are unacceptably obstructive to your view or to desired breezes. 

Most trees can be pruned at any time, but the best time seems to be late in the dormant season or very early in the spring, before leaves form. 

Pruning right above a branch or bud that is growing toward the outside of a tree tends to broaden the tree’s crown. 

To prevent stripping off bark, stub-cut all branches that are too large to be supported by hand. Stub-cutting requires three saw cuts. Make the first cut upward, about halfway through the limb, and a foot out from the point where you plan the final cut. Make the second cut a few inches farther out on the limb, cutting down from the top until the limb is severed. Finally, saw off the stub. 

In sawing off the stub, follow the figure.

Fertilizing 

Most trees will never need to be fertilized unless they are growing in extremely poor soil. Urban trees are more likely than suburban or rural trees to have soil that lacks sufficient nutrients for satisfactory growth and development. 

Certain trees should never be fertilized because giving them extra nitrogen—a main component of most fertilizers—can actually make pest and disease problems worse. Examples of such fertilizer-induced problems are higher populations of aphids on tulip poplar trees, woolly adelgids (similar to aphids) on hemlocks, and obscure scale on red oaks. 

If you decide that fertilizing is right for your tree, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind. If you transplant a tree, it’s best to wait a year before applying fertilizer. Mature trees will not benefit from being fertilized more often than every two or three years. Fertilizing the lawn or gardens around a tree also fertilizes the tree. The best time to fertilize is in the autumn when the weather is cool and soil moisture is plentiful. 

A fertilizer such as 10-10-10 (the numbers refer to the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash in the mixture) is best. Fertilizers with urea or other organic sources of nutrients have the advantage that they break down slowly, providing a long-lasting effect. 

An effective way to apply fertilizer is by using a crowbar to pound holes 12 inches deep and 18 to 24 inches apart at the drip line of the tree (the line around the perimeter at the outer tips of the branches). Distribute the fertilizer among the holes to within a few inches of the top and fill the remainder with sand. You want to avoid burying the fertilizer too deep in the soil, since most roots are no more than a foot deep and the fertilizer would therefore be placed out of reach. 

You can figure how much fertilizer to use by measuring a tree’s trunk. Experts recommend a cup of fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter. 

What Goes Wrong 

Below is a summary of the various kinds of complaints we found in the reviews of tree care services we received from surveyed CHECKBOOK subscribers. 

• Customer service—There was lack of responsiveness by firm’s staff, poor communication or rude treatment by staff, or failure to deliver on promises. Mentioned in 35 percent of complaints. 
• Price—Firm’s fees were considered too expensive. Mentioned in 28 percent of complaints. 
• Poor work or results. Mentioned in 16 percent of complaints. 
• Failure to complete contract—Firm billed for work that it did not complete or did not perform all tasks for which it was contracted. Mentioned in 13 percent of complaints. 
• Poor clean-up. Mentioned in 11 percent of complaints. 
• Incompetence, poor advice, or untrained workers. Mentioned in nine percent of complaints. 
• Promptness—Work took too long to complete or firm was late for or missed appointments. Mentioned in nine percent of complaints. 
• Caused damage to home or belongings. Mentioned in eight percent of complaints. 
• Reliability—Firm was unwilling to address or resolve disputes. Mentioned in three percent of complaints. 

Tree Care Don’ts 

Both you and your tree care firm should avoid several all-too-common practices. 

• Don’t climb trees using spikes. This is extremely damaging. 
• Don’t top trees. 
• Don’t allow the pruning of branches to rip bark below a cut. 
• Don’t paint wounds. 
• Don’t fill cavities with concrete. 
• Don’t unnecessarily enlarge or “point” tree wounds. 
• Don’t leave rope or wire wrapped around a tree trunk. 
• Don’t spray unless there is a clear need to control a specified pest or disease. 

Expert Advice 

Cooperative Extension agents will give you advice by phone or at their offices and will help you diagnose plant problems if you bring or send them specimens. Each Cooperative Extension office also offers a publications catalog listing guides you can send for (some of which are free) on plant-related topics. The addresses and phone numbers of the local agencies are listed below. 

Extension Offices 

Alexandria
1108 Jefferson Street
Alexandria, VA
703-519-3325 

Arlington County
3308 South Stafford Street
Arlington, VA
703-228-6400 

District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC
202-274-7115 

Fairfax County
12011 Government Ctr. Pkwy. #1050
Fairfax, VA
703-324-5369 

Howard County
3525-L Ellicott Mills Drive
Ellicott City, MD
410-313-2707 

Loudoun County
30-B Catoctin Circle SE
Leesburg, VA
703-777-0373 

Montgomery County
18410 Muncaster Road
Derwood, MD
301-590-9638 

Prince George’s County
6707 Groveton Drive
Clinton, MD
301-868-9366 

Prince William County
8033 Ashton Avenue, Suite 105
Manassas, VA
703-792-6289 

Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Avenue
Wheaton, MD
301-962-1400
www.brooksidegardens.org 

Horticultural Society of Maryland
410-821-5561
http://www.mdhorticulture.org 

Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens
1550 Anacostia Avenue NE
Washington, DC
202-426-6905 

National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue NE
Washington, DC
202-475-4845
www.usna.usda.gov 

University of Maryland Home and Garden Information Center
12005 Homewood Road
Ellicott City, MD
800-342-2507 or 410-531-1757
www.hgic.umd.edu 

Where You Can Complain 

State and Local Government Consumer Agencies 

District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General
441 4th Street, NW, #450-N
Washington, DC 20001
202-442-9828 

Fairfax County Department of Consumer Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035
703-222-8435 

Howard County Office of Consumer Affairs
6751 Columbia Gateway Drive
Columbia, MD 21046
410-313-6420 

Maryland Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General
200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-528-8662 

Montgomery County Division of Consumer Affairs
100 Maryland Avenue, Suite 330
Rockville, MD 20850
240-777-3636 

Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
1100 Bank Street
P.O. Box 1163
Richmond, VA 23218
800-552-9963 or 804-786-2042 

Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Washington
1411 K Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-393-8000
www.dc.bbb.org