Davey Tree Expert Co

I rarely give five stars, but John, the arborist from Davey tree is fantastic. He’s very knowledgable and didn’t try to sell me on anything. If you’re in the Denver metro area, I’d highly recommend John from Davey tree.

The first time we dealt with them it was fine. Second time not so much. We wanted them to just come and get an immediate approval and do the work (since we were home) and they didn’t even bother to knock just left the estimate. Then insisted it be signed and faxed back to them (as if I have a fax machine in my home). Then they told us they’d be out this week and never showed up, and when we called someone called back about coming out and giving us an estimate-​they didn’t even seem to know what they were doing. I called and got Bruce who said he’s sick of dealing with people with an attitude. When you say you’re going to come out and never show that’s not a client problem that’s a professionalism problem. They have voice mail jail and you can’t usually get ahold of anyone.

Dont even waste your time calling this company. I have been trying to hire them for 3 months! They missed the first appointment (left a nonsense quote on my front door). Came back again, gave me another quote. Tried to hire them then, but they said that they weren’t setting appts until next month. They said that they would give me a call. No call next month, I called them. They said the same thing. Again, no call back, I called them. We reviewed the quote and they changed the numbers, again. Said that they would call after the first of the year to schedule an appt. No call back. After chasing them to do my trees for 3 months, I thought it was time to quit. They obviously did not want my business.

As good as it gets with Tree people.
I have a yard with a lot of investment trees. I have been getting the run around from my yard guys, and from other tree services I have called.
Dave M., a certified and degreed arborist, came out today, and was so knowledgeable.
The dead stuff on my apple tree? Not the late freeze but FIRE BLIGHT! Also, he noted a lot of damage on the trunk base from careless lawn mowing that will kill my tree if I do not do something.
My cherry tree? Dave confirmed that yes, it was ancient but in no way should be removed as others have suggested.
My plum tree? Dave suggested a plan to help it be more «orchard style» and harvestable.
My Maple? Three other guys said the big gaping hole in the bark was fine. I just never felt in my gut it was fine. Dave said no– this tree had a fungal infection a few years back and was now healing, but there were things we could do to help it heal.
Dave had suggestions for my other trees and shrubs as well, and I feel confident I have finally found the right people for my trees. I will update the review if anything changes.

I wish we could give zero stars because that’s about the amount of work we had done. We have a huge tree one of the biggest in the neighborhood and it was hanging so low the limbs were getting stuck in our car doors. When the people from Davey came to trim the tree I really thought they would clip the whole thing. Instead they pretty much gave the tree a bowl cut and did not trim the top at all. They are terrible communicators and I would not wish their service on my worst enemy. DONT hire these guys!!!

Just a couple of days after my initial review, I was contacted by the District Manager for Davey Tree, John. He was extremely apologetic for my experience, and he offered to come out to my house personally to look at my tree. I really appreciated the effort he made to make sure I was satisfied, and after that, I would absolutely use Davey if I need tree service in the future! Big thanks to John for going the extra mile!
My original review is below. I decided to remove it, because after John went out of his way to help me, I didn’t want it to be the first thing all of you saw! However, if you’re interested, it’s here:
OLD REVIEW: I called Davey Tree based on the strong reviews here on Unilocal. When I called, the woman asked if I would like to be home when the arborist comes over, and I said that I would. Because the affected area on our tree is on the back, it’s hard to spot., so I wanted to be able to point it out.
Days passed, and I heard nothing. Finally, I got a call from Chris at 1pm, asking when we could schedule an appointment. When I returned home around 4pm that same day, there was a report stuck in my door — Chris had not waited to hear back from me and had instead just stopped over on his own. Unfortunately, because I was not there to point out the problem area, his report didn’t mention it at all.
I immediately called him, using the number he left on my voicemail. He answered the phone, «Who is this?» rather than a friendly, «Hello», which I thought was really unprofessional. I explained my concerns — that I had specifically requested to be home when he came over, and that he didn’t actually see the tree I was concerned about. He said he could come back, and that the office did not communicate my request to him. His voicemail, however, indicated that he was trying to schedule a time, so I don’t know what the issue was. Regardless, if my simple request isn’t important enough to them to communicate or carry out, I’m going to look for a company that will. I won’t be working with Davey Trees.

These guys were great. Our giant elm tree that had been growing at our house for over 50 years all of a sudden lost all of its leaves and they had never grown back. We called Davey after seeing the good reviews on Unilocal and wow were these reviews right!
The guy came to our house and did a thorough inspection of not just our problem tree, but of our entire yard just to be sure we weren’t missing any major problems. He was so knowledgable and friendly. Anything we asked him about the yard, he was able to answer it swiftly and thoroughly. I learned so much about my yard that day. It was fantastic.
Not to mention the fact that he was extremely fair in his price estimate and diagnosis of our backyard. He definitely wasn’t there to rip us off or pull a fast one on us.
I would definitely recommend Davey to anyone who is looking for an arborist.

The top 10 – 12 feet of one of my 9 huge gorgeous spruces suddenly died. Nothing but brown dead branches and cones atop an otherwise beautiful tree full of spring growth. Knowing how fast beetles damage occurs I immediately called the 2 best-​known tree companies in town and one 5-​star company I found on Unilocal.I had used «company S» before. Their bid for total removal was extremely high– but I tentatively scheduled it for their earliest available date due to threat of beetle spread. They never followed up, and when I called to cancel the tentative appointment they had no record of it.
The second, «company R» found on Unilocal,started with a $ 2000 estimate for services I hadn’t requested! The tree removal was slightly less than company S — but the 2x/​year beetle treament was double the price of the two «prestige» companies! The technician didn’t lower the price but when I told him about Davey’s offer, he said they’re the best. (He previously worked for them.)
Davey came with a very reasonable price for removal of the dead portion of the tree — $ 320 — and if the tree showed signs of spreading disease — or if it had to be removed later, the cap for removing the entire 80−90-foot tree was $ 1000 — WAY less than company S — even if it took 2 visits with the bucket truck. To remove a huge locust tree that was beginning to crowd another spruce, $ 900 — and to take all the deadwood out of an even larger locust they charged me nothing, Their beetle spray and fertilization was much lower than company R.
Best of all, the salesman Steve at Davey called me every day to report on scheduling and discuss options. He sent out a bucket truck to assess potential disease, which initially pointed to blue stain fungus — and that meant full removal. However, when the removal team came they began at the top, found no blue stain fungus on many samples, stopped the job till the salesman and top boss came over, and the concensus was to leave the apparently healthy part of the big spruce. The trim was done so skillfully that you can’t tell the 12′ crown is missing. It was like sparing me a landscape amputation! Even if the tree eventually succumbs, I know the cost of total removal and will know Davey has done everything to save it.
I cannot speak highly enough of the professionalism of every member of the Davey crew, all experienced, knowledgeable — and they really care about trees (and even my grief at the thought of losing one).
Please note that the ips beetle that attacked my tree and the mountain beetles are very very active this year! I had discontinued preventive spraying because of finances, but I’ll never skip it again. The price is extremely reasonable, and although it’s not 100% effective, it’s a great investment particularly when our trees are so stressed by mild winters and drought. Still in doubt? Take a drive through Summit County, now the land of brown trees. Forests can’t be sprayed, but your home trees can. Do it with Davey!

We have a big Siberian elm tree in our front yard that requires yearly merit injections into the soil around the base of the tree to prevent elm leaf beetles. This has to be done regularly or eventually the tree will sicken and die. Not to mention that the leaves turn yellow in the middle of summer because the beetle larvae are eating their way out. And the beetle larvae attract lots and lots of birds that want to come eat the larvae. Needless to say, we learned the hard way.
Davey Tree Co. is the third in a line of tree care companies that have treated our elm. They were not the lowest priced but they give us the best service. John Bretsch, the District Manager and Certified Arborist, is very knowledgeable and patiently answers all my questions. The customer service reps I’ve spoken to are helpful and courteous. We also get a small discount for paying for our service in advance. And of course, our tree stays happy and healthy.
If you have a choice, I would not recommend owning a home with a Siberian elm tree in the yard. But I do recommend Davey.