Johnsons Tree Service

I first used Johnson’s Tree Service back in 2007, to remove an invasive privet tree and replace it with something more maintainable. At that time, with Kevin Johnson responding, I was impressed with his responsiveness and the quality and thoroughness of his work.
This time, I’ve found the contact somewhat more frustrating.
First, let me say that if you can get his team out to do a job, they do fast, thorough, diligent work, clean up behind themselves completely, are very careful not to impact nearby plants, fences, etc. You’ll be glad you dealt with them.
This time, though, with a new lead person (Henry Vargas) running the show, my experience has been very frustrating.
To summarize my experience, he never once ever returned a call, or called me back about anything!!! Every time I talked to him, I had to make the effort, which is complicated by the fact that once he gets into his busy day, he doesn’t answer the phone… I would have to start calling early in the morning and hope that I caught him.
What made this a problem, is that the replacement trees that I was looking for, appear to be difficult to find, at least at the nurseries that he used. So I ended up requesting different trees several times… and each time he said he’d look around and get back to me — be he never did, I’d end up calling back after a few weeks, only to hear that he couldn’t find what I was looking for. This really is not very professional.
I understand that he’s very busy, but part of his job is communicating with customers. As it is, I never did get a replacement tree in place; we agreed on a commonly-​available tree to put in, but he never called me back, and it’s been six weeks now. Obviously, he just doesn’t do that. At this point, I’m going to research some other tree service to take care of my needs.

These guys are fantastic! Very professional. Great price for the work that they provided. When they saw additional trimming that needed to be done, they suggested it and completed it at NO additional charge. Cleanup was excellent. I will definitely use them again.

Johnson’s Tree Services trimmed 8 redwood trees for me 7 years ago and did an excellent job for a very reasonable price. A few weeks ago, I thought about calling them to provide the service again but I couldn’t find their contact information. Since they did such a great job and didn’t want to look for another company yet. I was hoping I could find the old receipt soon. Fortunately, they somehow read my mind and called me. I was so glad they called. Kevin came out a couple days later and gave me a very attractive quote for a repeat customer. The crew came out and did once again, a beautiful job on the trees today. My yard looks so clean and better than when they first came.

I met three companies to take out the top of a broken ash that was in a difficult location. These guys were the most knowledgeable and had the best price. Their crew came over and worked very fast and did an excellent job. Henry was a great guy to work with. I would never use anybody else.

The first time around seemed nice although we did need to call/​email multiple times to get responses. They trimmed our tree. After over a year the tree seems to be now leaning towards our neighbor’s house. It’s clear that one of the sides of the tree had branches cut but not the other.
We’ve been advised by our neighborhood association to remove the tree. We contacted Kevin who came out to see the tree and gave us a quote last fall. We got around to finally asking him to go ahead and do the job recently and he came in with a significantly higher quote in addition to an unfriendly demeanor with my wife.
He had no intention to stick to his agreement from last fall nor any intention in taking responsibility for a poor job the first time around.
We will never use him again.

Loved these guys!!!
My husband called them on a Saturday and within an hour Kevin came out and looked at our tree that we wanted removed. We got an emailed quote from him the same day and he also told us it would take two days.
Prior to our scheduled day to remove our large tree he came out and marked the tree and checked for buried cables and pipes and coordinated with PG&E.
The scheduled day of the tree removal was flawless. His crew was professional, polite, and courteous. His team worked hard both days. At the end of the second day, all was good and the job was complete. The crew cleaned up everything when they were done and even asked us to check the roof to make sure there was not damage and we wanted to make sure we were happy. We were very happy.
Kevin’s professionalism, thorough follow through and making sure the customer is happy stands out from others. We would highly recommend Kevin and his crew to anyone. Thanks Kevin.
Paul and Patricia

A good price, good service and good advice. What more do you what? Naturally he is busy, so just plan a month or so in advance during the busy time of the year.

I said I’d use them again and I did. I have a giant ash tree that was too close to the house. I was worried about it hurting the foundation. And I had runaway grape vines without any support. The work was done quickly and professionally. The cleanup was very complete. They even brought a grinder truck to handle the debris. What was especially great was the advice on taking care of my fruit trees. Working with Henry and his crew is like getting lessons from Sunset Magazine.
A hard working, very professional crew that respects your property.

Before I moved to Menlo park, I watched a tree service this a huge tree in Burlingame — they took their time, balanced it beautifully and so when I moved to Menlo and had a very large heritage Oak tree to trim/​thin I called Johnson’s having gotten their name from my neighbor. They are absolutely professionals and pleasant in every way — and they sincerely care about the tree, and in my case, the privacy of the neighbors and visa versa the tree provided. Everyone — myself, all of the affected neighbors — were just delighted with the beautiful outcome! And I felt the cost was more than reasonable for the care, concern and labor involved and they cleaned all the trimmings & hauled away!

I received a coupon in a mailer and called them on a Saturday. I got a call 10 minutes later from the owner and the next morning I had Robert come out for a free quote. 3 days later, my job is done. Do ask for Robert. He was very flexible. Was on site managing the project with 3 – 4 guys and kept me in the loop the entire time. I felt it was a big project and was nervous about it but the result was good. They cleaned up so nicely after and staff was so professional. I also appreciated some of the «courtesies» Robert threw in there for us. I have referred this company to my parents too. Another thing, I was not hounded for my payment. Robert said he will call me later to finish up which I also appreciated. Thank you!

Johnson’s just cut down 2 huge Monterey Pines at my house in the Oakland Hills. They also trimmed 2 large, broken limbs, high up in another another Monterey Pine. The trees were positioned next to power lines and traffic, so they had to be extremely careful. Everything was done perfectly: no damage to surrounding trees, people, wires or cars. And, they removed all of the debris.
This is the 2^nd time we’ve used Johnson’s. Yes, they were a bit more expensive than the other 2 bids we got… but guess what? Unlike the competition, they had worker’s comp for their employees, AND the right license (the other 2 companies had contractors licenses, but are supposed to have landscape licenses). If the company doesn’t have the right license and insurance, the homeowner could be held liable in case of an accident. And when you’re talking about taking down a 70ft tree, the risks are real. So, yeah, this legal stuff really matters to me (it also matters to me that an employee gets medical coverage should they be injured on the job).
Their communication is great, much better than what you usually get with contractors. They make good use of email, with professional-​looking estimates and electronic appointment scheduling… but also know when to use the phone. The job had to be rescheduled because the first time the crew showed up one of the guys got stung by a bee and had an allergic reaction. But Kevin and Henry kept me informed and juggled things around to get a crew back here.

My project had 3 requests: 1. trim a tree 2. take out 2 plants 3. dig & take out the extra dirt in the outer part of 15 ft area perimeter fence and the concrete in my patio.
After several reschedules, the job was partially done #1 & #2. I paid $ 300 with the promise that #3 will be done asap. Now, 4 weeks later, no one shows.
btw, #1 & #2 tasks were done to my satisfactory: 4 stars. Contacted them 3 or 4 times during the last few weeks. No response.

They just completed a job at our house in the Oakland hills where they removed a dead tree that was through our deck. The were able to safely remove it with no damage to our deck. They also cut down the trunk of a large pine tree that had been partially removed by PG&E. They left our yard cleaner then when they started.
We had obtained estimates from Jenson’s Tree and Ponderosa Tree. Johnson’s did the job for a third of the quote of Jenson’s and for half of the quote from Ponderosa. They are licensed and insured. This is the third time we have used them. They have always done a great job.
I would not hesitate to use them again.

Johnson’s Tree Service bid was very competitive. I chose them based on their promise to do the job more quickly than the other bidders, price, their agreement to satisfy my neighbor (since the tree was on the lot line) and previous Unilocal reviews.
I had JTS remove two trees: one plum tree (simple) and one eucalyptus that had grown into some telephone and power lines (complicated). It took them about 6 hours including stump and root removal and clean up. Both my neighbor and I were happy with the condition of our yards after the service. Two other bidders estimated the job would take two days! The crew seemed to know what they were doing and dropped nearly everything into my yard and not my neighbor’s, according to my request, even though the eucalyptus was leaning over my neighbors yard.
I would definitely hire them again.

Johnson’s Tree Service recently did some work for us including cutting trees and removing a long wooden trellis overgrown with vines. We were impressed with them from start to finish. Kevin was very knowledgeable and his quote was competitive. We received the permit to cut one of the trees mid-​afternoon on a Monday and Wednesday morning they came out to do the job. They cleaned everything up and filled in the holes so that we could hardly tell where the trees previously stood. Payment could be made by check or online via credit card. We cannot recommend Kevin, Henry, and the team at Johnson’s Tree Service highly enough.

JTS provided an excellent price, terrific service and results, and worked hard to earn this customer’s satisfaction. The estimator, John, was friendly and well-​informed, and arranged the work to suit my busy schedule. The crew did an amazing job with a 100+ year old coastal live oak that had not been properly trimmed for many years, opening the canopy, removing dead wood, and raising the skirts of the foliage. The end product is awesome and beautiful. Went for about 4 estimates for this work, and JTS matched the lowest. The only hitch came as a result of a falling limb clobbering a plant. John went to a lot of trouble to replace the plant with 3 new ones! That was above and beyond the call of duty. Totally recommend these guys — they’re outstanding!

It was a quick turnaround from phone call, to quote, to service. They were friendly and easy to communicate with. They did a good job (while we weren’t home) and cleaned up afterward. Only minus is that there was a stump to grind down and we had damage to the underground water system. Thankfully my boyfriend found it quickly and was handy in fixing it. I called to let the service know: they were apologetic and offered to pay for the fix. The parts at the store were $ 10, so I wasn’t going to bother them (I was grateful for the apology, and it’s good to know you’re dealing with honest people) and I don’t know how to account for labor done ourselves (the fix took a few hours and digging :-/​)
They were knowledgeable and I’d call them again for tree service.

I used Johnson’s Tree Service fall 2011 to take care of some patio trees in the back yard which had grown quite large. After explaining to Henry exactly what I wanted done, I let him know that I wasn’t going to be home on the day they did the work, but my friend would and he also knew what I wanted in case he had any questions. I also gave him my cell phone and work phone numbers to call.
When I came home from work my friend explained that although the had trimmed quite a bit from the trees, he didn’t think it was exactly what I wanted and he tried to explain that to Henry, but Henry said he knew what I wanted and paid no attention. My friend was correct, it wasn’t what I wanted, so I called Henry to explain, and he returned my call and said he would get his crew back out to finish the job. He never did, despite my calling and emailing him to try and set something up.
Johnson Tree Service was late arriving to begin with, and then didn’t complete the job or try and get it right. I wasn’t impressed, and wouldn’t use them again.
I give them 2 stars because they appeared to know about trees and they were friendly. But they don’t deserve more then that.

I had the pleasure to do business with Johnson’s Tree Service by accident– I was working from home and heard chain saws operating at the street behind ours. So I went over to inquire about tree trimming services. The tree in question actually is in my neighbor’s yard, with branches growing over the fence line and inter-​twined with the overhead phone/​cable lines. Squirrels have been using the over hanging branches to jump into my yard and break branches off my little Fuyu persimmon tree, but I hesitate DIY given the cables.
Kevin and crew came over for a consult/​estimate shortly. He laid out the options and gave me a very reasonable quote. So I had them take care of the offending branches right away.
As another Unilocaler said, they did good quality work and did not damage anything in the process. Everyone was friendly, courteous and efficient. Since Kevin’s a certified arborist, I also asked for suggestions on how to remedy the damaged persimmon tree while he was here. He took the time to explain the growth habit of broad leaf fruit trees and shared advice on what can be done.
I highly recommend them for «Tree Service At your Door Step» :-)

Called and spoke with Frank. He came out the very next day to give estimate to remove 2 trees in front yard. I gave him the address of the property 2 different times and he still managed to get lost and then blamed me for not spelling the street name correctly (first strike – never blame the customer before you have been awarded job). He gave a bid right on the spot along with a copy of their insurance, but it was very, very high compared to the 2 others I had received. He said he had a 2-​week lead time to remove the trees.
When I asked him to price the job on a per-​tree basis because of the amount, he said he wasn’t interested in doing just one tree. We did not award job to him, strictly from a pricing standpoint, so I don’t know how their performance would have been. But, his overall bed side manner could have been better. Don’t know that I would contact him again when there are others out there with great reputations. Never received a follow up call from him to see if I wanted to proceed. Guess he didn’t need the business that badly.