Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links, at no cost to you.

Happy… um, Tuesday? Wednesday? This week is flying by! Normally, I’d be in a great mood today, since I usually look forward to hot yoga days (I’m still making progress on that goal to get back into shape). But this past Sunday, I chose to push myself and run the 4.5-mile and 20-something-obstacle test of ballsy-ness known as the Spartan Sprint. I’ve got a huge scrape along my stomach, blisters, and big bruises on top of smaller ones, so moving isn’t exactly my favorite thing to do right now, but things are starting to get a little easier again. In case you’re curious, I’ve already covered some of my previous experiences with gimmicky races (and why I actually enjoy this kind of exercise) here, here, and here. Anyway, onto the big update that at least some of you came for: last week, I hired a tree removal service crew to cut down five pine trees in my yard, and the job is now finished enough to show you what things look like. But first, let’s start at step one!

How to Find a Good Tree Removal Service

I mentioned back in this post that I first began shopping around for a tree service after realizing that some much-needed exterior repair work wasn’t going to be nearly as pricey as I first budgeted for. In total, I have (or, had) about six pine trees on my property: one in the front, and a party of five in the back (there are two or three from my neighbor’s yard that overhang my property as well, but that’s to be addressed at another time). These trees have been one of the biggest nuisances of living in this house for the last five years, and the idea of finally ridding myself of this mess was much too appealing to pass up. Possible roof damage from falling branches have always been in the back of my mind, not to mention the endless piles of pine straw falling everywhere (collecting on both the first and second story roof, clogging the gutters, blanketing the yard, etc.).

pine straw gutters
2010

Every time I make progress on the yard, it gets smothered in brown pine straw all over again, which has left me feeling somewhat defeated. If it were the only project I ever had going on at my house, maybe it wouldn’t accumulate to the point of being a problem every spring, but the fact is that it’s simply not working for me and the way I’d prefer to live in this house. So, as far as my budget was able to cover it, I knew that jumping on this now would be a big game-changer for me with the overhaul I’m longing for outside.

pine straw front yard
2010 – and pretty much what things looked like every winter.

I first started by finding a tree service, which is sometimes easier said than done. I had never shopped for this kind of work before, but there are occasionally businesses that will leave their card at my mailbox when passing by (I assume tall pine trees like these just look like cartoon dollar signs floating in the air to these guys). That method isn’t exactly efficient for getting the lowest price or feeling confident that I’m hiring someone that’s been proven to do great work before, so naturally, I turned to my BFF, and stumbled onto a website called HomeAdvisor. The name sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until getting a few quotes that I realized I had been contacted by one of their reps last fall about reviewing their site (for a different purpose, but it never really worked out until now). Small world, eh?

back yard pine trees

The site was super easy to navigate; I simply entered my contact info, zip code, and selected the kind of project I was looking for. The results pop up a number of matches, previous reviews, and allow you immediate options to contact them. Being able to let them know I was at the planning stage versus ready to start the project was probably the part I liked best, since I felt less pressure to pull the trigger when all of the people contacting me would know right away that this was a competing quote type of deal. Plus, the services available in my area also had my contact info, so each one pretty much handled all the rest: contacting me, scheduling a time to stop by the house, and writing up quotes. It also helped knowing that these guys were already pre-screened and verified through HomeAdvisor, so each gave me copies of their licenses and insurance policies to make me feel comfortable that I would be hiring qualified people. The only con of using the site seemed to be that I got more emails than I would have liked in my inbox from initial follow-ups, but after giving them some feedback on it, they appear to have tapered off.

Negotiating & Scheduling

Negotiation and narrowing down the choices was the next step, but since that’s a part that takes some length to give advice on, I’ll save that for a post dedicated solely to negotiating tips. But, the results were pretty much like the Goldilocks theme that has always existed at the UDH: one was too much, one didn’t quite measure up, and one was just right. Or in this case, one service was way overpriced (they wanted $675 for trimming alone), one was the cheapest (and too pushy), and another service seemed the most trustworthy. I was able to compare the quotes and get the trustworthy-sounding team to agree to the more competitive pricing (five trees cut down, the sixth trimmed to get it off the roof line, and stump grinding for $1300 total), and squared things away contract-wise. They marked off each tree with a little bit of tape for its purpose: orange for cutting down completely… green for trimming.

tree removal service

marking tree for removal

It took about two weeks for the scheduling part to shake out, but they surprised me when they said it would likely all be done in a single day. They also called to let me know that they contacted the utility guy to come out and mark things off, so I didn’t have to really do anything else except wait for the crew to show up.

Tree Removal Day

On the scheduled day, a large crew showed up earlier than expected and immediately got to work in the back. Since the access to my back yard is fenced in, they had to remove the gate to make it easier to haul things in and out, but they didn’t have to do anything other than simply put it back on when they were done (much to my relief, too; one of the other services mentioned removing the entire fenced area by the side of the house, which just gave me an added concern that they wouldn’t necessarily put things back exactly as they found them).

tree removal service

trees1

The crew quickly shimmied up one of the trees and began lopping off branches near the top. For smaller ones, they pretty much just let them fall where they needed to; for the bigger branches, the crew secured each one with additional rope to help guide them to the ground. I took a few snaps from the safety of the sliding glass door in the kitchen, but it was clear that it wouldn’t be safe to get any closer.

tree removal service

tree removal service
Look out below!

After lopping off the branches, it was then time to take down the trunk in pieces. When each length of trunk hit the ground, it shook the entire house (which also scared Charlie a bit, but not enough to relinquish her post as nosy guard dog). Despite the noise of machinery, the crew remained relatively quiet in comparison. I suppose that’s what you’d probably get with a crew that knows what they are doing… not a lot of panicked yelling reassured me that I could keep working upstairs in my office while they did their thing outside!

tree removal service

One by one, each tree came down, and all of the branches were dragged by other crew members to the chipper out front. They were all friendly, and some even posed for my not-so-subtle camera intrusion. The utility guy showed up as promised and marked off whatever it was he needed to do, and I went for lunch while they continued on through the afternoon.

tree removal service

A Brief Hiccup

While I was on my way to lunch, I got a call from the quote guys about a discrepancy in the comparison quote I gave them from the cheaper estimate. As it turned out, the cheapest quote guy (the quote I’d used to negotiate a lower price) had filled out his quote all wrong and wrote that he was only intending to cut down 4 of the 5 trees I’d asked for. Which, of course, revealed how he wound up being the lowest price, but the estimate wasn’t far enough off from the others to cause me think that it was the reason for the lower cost until that moment. I’ll admit, I hadn’t looked at it closely enough to be 100% sure what had been written down, except that he included stump grinding (I spent a long time talking to the guy specifically about the tree in the front though, so it didn’t make sense that he’d just leave it off the estimate? He had been a bit distracted talking about my neighbor’s tree, so perhaps that was it).

Since I also no longer had a copy of the cheaper quote in front of me (I was in the car on my way to lunch, after all), I briefly became frustrated and panicked over the thought that might now ask for more than we’d agreed upon for all of the trees. I was honestly preparing to flip out on them if they even hinted at it. Thankfully though, they were calling to tell me that the error had been made on their part by not catching things until the day of, and reassured me that they were going to keep to our agreement without any additional issues. Up until that point, the entire process had been flawless, so I appreciated that they were willing to immediately accept responsibility for the error. Phew!

Interrupting Rain

After coming back from lunch and noting more tree work underway, the first recognition of fewer trees hit me. Suddenly, there was a new feeling of lightness all around the house. Seeing open sky in the back yard was really strange, but in a good way. They also limbed up the last remaining tree in the back yard—the only one I wanted to keep, for whatever reason.

tree removal service

Unfortunately, rain clouds were revealing themselves in this newly opened space, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to complete the project in a single day, and the crew packed up. They got all of the branches out of both yards, but the logs from each trunk would have to wait until the ground was dry enough to move their equipment onto it (either that, or they’d risk getting stuck and tearing apart both yards). I was fine to wait it out, but had a sneaking suspicion that it would dry out exactly the day I had to take a trip to Alabama for an office visit, which meant I might miss out on getting the last few snaps of them doing the log hauling and stump grinding thing. And I was kind of disappointed that I might miss seeing it all go down.

tree removal service

tree removal service

Disappearing Logs

Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened two days later. It was rainy when I left from home, and they didn’t call beforehand to let me know which day they’d be stopping by to try again, but by the time I arrived back in my driveway that same day, it was as if the logs simply vanished into thin air. The only trace evidence of the crew’s work was tire marks on a patch of dirt near the fence.

tree removal service

The smell of mulched pine was everywhere, and there were large mounds of the remnants of each stump dotting the front and back yards. Again, I was struck by an eerie sensation of things suddenly going missing. Like losing my car keys… or in this case, a truckload of pine logs.

I also noticed some of the casualties of tree removal. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me until everything was gone, but the logs had been placed directly over some of the azaleas and other shade shrubs, crushing them. It’s not like they really had anywhere else to put these logs in the yard, but it did not cross my mind until I saw one of the plants completely demolished. So, for future reference, if there are important plants you want them to avoid, be sure to mention it, or move them temporarily to an area out of the way if you can.

tree removal service

I would have preferred to see if they could survive the new changes from added sunlight, but for now, I’m planning to just let them be to see if some of them recover (the azaleas appear particularly hardy and sprang right back up again, so I’m waiting it out before considering a new spot to move them to). They are beautiful when they bloom, so fingers crossed!

pink azaleas

Results

Honestly, I’m still getting used to checking things out, but I’m really happy I made the decision to get rid of these troublesome trees. I tried so hard to tame them a couple of times, and ultimately, this was a better way to go I think. I don’t quite have a plan together for all of this sunnier space, but I’m excited about its potential. I think the first task will be to close in the rest of my yard on that side with a wooden fence instead of the metal one (similar to what Dad and I did here), but after that, it’s still a question mark. Grass. Definitely grass too. And move the azaleas to make it look less random. My to-do list is already growing!

tree removal service

I tried to grab a few old photos I’ve taken in the past for direct before-and-after comparisons, but I quickly realized that most of the previous pictures I’ve taken of my yard are during summer and fall when things are more filled in, so anything side by side right now would actually make the afters look worse! Spring and summer are just around the corner though, so as soon as all of the greenery gets a chance to fill in again, I’ll be able to show you the full results. While I busy my mind with new landscaping thoughts, here are some shots of what things look like now.

Front yard: All that’s left to do is to pick up all of the nasty pine straw and bag it up, and I’ll be set for new plantings this spring. I would go ahead and plant flowers this week, but I always wait to see if mid-March brings a fast freeze.

tree removal service

Before: Back yard sky. Remember, this is the sparse version from winter. In the spring, everything is so full that the sun has never really had much of a chance to peek through.

tree removal service

After: Ahh. Does anybody else feel like they just took a deep breath?

tree removal service

Before: Overgrown, ivy-covered, and unfriendly (fall photos, so a lot greener here… but as you can see, the green pretty much stayed up in the trees and left the ground pretty blah, especially after all the work it took to remove the ivy).

tree removal service

tree removal service

After: A blank slate and ready for a redo! The crew went ahead and took out the scalloped edging that surrounded this area as well (I’m guessing it got in the way of their equipment). It’s FAR from over back here, but I can’t wait to make more changes this summer.

tree removal service

Yeah… like I said, the afters this time of year really aren’t making me swoon either. It is still going to take lots of work to whip this back yard into shape, so I’m open to ALL of your ideas. In fact, I think adding some smaller, less-enormous tree species back in that corner would be nice (maybe even a fruit tree, now that the sun can reach it? Geez, I am a terrible landscaper!), not to mention leveling all of the lumpy areas out. What can you picture back here?

Disclosure: I have voluntarily partnered with HomeAdvisor and have been asked by them to review their site in exchange for compensation. But, serendipitously as it may seem, I had already begun to use their services independently prior to the collaboration, so it was pretty much win-win that we found a way to work together, and can honestly recommend using their site. And as always, all opinions in this post are 100% my own!

P.S. For those in the Atlanta area looking for the same tree service I used, it’s 770 BAM Tree. The crew was really friendly, prices were good, they were honest, and they did not collect payment until they knew the job was done and that I was happy. I’ve already passed their info onto a family member, FWIW!

P.P. S. I know I briefly covered cost in the Negotiation section above, but I’ll have more details on it in the post with negotiation tips and then link it to this post when that goes live.

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24 Comments

  1. I never realized how HUGE the trees really were! They are skyscrapers!!! And you got a DEAL!! Oh my gosh–$1300!! You would be on the floor if you heard what we paid…we always seem to call in the most well-known, most-reputable, and the most expensive!

  2. I think it is BS you agreed on a price, and then they later found a discrepancy and wanted more money. Here’s why […] at one point they were clear on what work needed to be done, and they were happy to do it for a price. The work that needed to be done didn’t change, but they soon realized something on the bid wasn’t right. Which is irrelevant to the fact that they were willing to do the same work for a lower price weeks ago. I would have told them they should have caught it before the agreement was made. I also would have never given them a competitor’s bid.

    Either way, the yard does look good. I don’t know what is worse, cleaning up pine needles or leaves. But I hate both!

    1. I gave them the competitor’s bid during the negotiation process after they agreed to match and then beat the other guy’s estimate by $50. Sort of like when you bring an ad into Walmart and they beat a competitor’s price—they want to see proof of the other pricing before they’ll match it.

      When he called, the owner didn’t actually suggest charging me more, but I THOUGHT that’s where our conversation was heading, and had already prepared in my mind to refuse (they had already started the work, we had a signed agreement, etc). But instead, he was calling just to tell me there was a discrepancy and that he was going to be eating the cost on that one. Tbh, I waffled back and forth on whether it irritated me that they called JUST to tell me they weren’t going to charge me more (I mean, why even tell me?), but then again, it could be in case I hired them again (there are trees I left intact) or recommended them that they felt it was more transparent to tell me? Best explanation I can think of, unless they were initially intent on charging me more but then realized it wouldn’t be the right thing to do before our conversation got to that point.

      But still, I agree with you that we agreed on a price and there was NO WAY I would have been comfortable with them trying to change the agreement after everything was signed. Ultimately, I’m still a happy customer, though I wanted to give the full play-by-play so that other people can learn from the experience. And I can honestly say that I hate pine needles WAY more than leaves, but neither are much fun to deal with!

  3. WOW!!!! Amazing difference and a new space to design…consider it another room. $1300? Here in CT I got quoted $2800 FOR ONE 60 ft. TREE!

    1. Wow, yeah… that’s where my head originally thought the cost would be (and I never would have done it if it were). I’ll have more details in my negotiation post for things to keep in mind when shopping around, so hopefully that will help people in different areas know how to really get a good deal!

  4. I would hate pine needles being that close to my house! Ours are off to the side, thankfully. It looks great. For that fruit tree, I highly recommend a fig! Fresh figs are great. Get a more mature one, too, it’s worth the higher price, since they take a couple of years to mature (fruit).

  5. Good step-by-step here. While that conversation about a price discrepancy is… odd, I guess it’s nice that they told you in case you use them again and don’t wig out at the new price. I’ll have to keep some of this in mind if i I need a tree cleared. Thanks for sharing!

  6. What a world of difference! A beautiful bright cherry blossom tree would be nice back there. I’m also a fan of knockout roses because they are just so low maintenance with super bright blooms – plus they have a long blooming season. And, of course, being a Southerner, I always love a good dogwood tree. :)

    1. All great suggestions. I’ve never been much of a fan of roses, but a quick Google search later, and they look pretty darn amazing with hostas beneath. Would look great along the fence line. Thank you for the ideas!

      1. No problem! I don’t love roses either because they seem so high maintenance and fussy – with their diseases and pruning and so forth. Knockouts are really simple like hydrangeas. After the first frost, you just cut them down to the first nubby and leave them. You don’t have to do anything else. They grow back in a bush shape year after year. Once they start blooming I give them a dose of Miracle Grow Bloom Booster and they just keep blooming. If I’m out in the yard, I’ll pluck all of the dead heads (no petals) off to encourage growth, but otherwise they just thrive in the GA sun.

  7. Highly informative post! You do not spare any details! I wish I read this before I hired the good ol boys I used to remove the trees from my yard!
    Glad to hear you healed up from that hardcore run as well!

  8. My husband and I recently moved into an older home and there are a lot of trees in the backyard that we just don’t need. Many of them are sick and dying so we want to look into the removal of them soon. Do you know what the best time of year is to get that done? I will have to do some more research and see what I can come up with. Thanks for sharing your tips and story!

    1. Well, if you’re removing a tree completely, then just about any time that the ground isn’t too frozen to work with (if you’re grinding stumps) is probably ok. But when it comes to trimming living trees, I would bet that it’s best to do it after the summer heat… both because spring is a growth season, so you normally don’t want to trim things back then, and exposing new bark/ends on trees where it could get scorched in summer heat is also probably bad for the health of the tree. Those are just my guesses though; I’m sure tree experts will have some advice on when to do this when you call them for consults! Lots of luck with your trees!

  9. We, too, are in Atlanta area and last winter had five intruding pines taken down in back. Unfortunately, the crew arrived at exactly the same time plumbers arrived to deal with the aftermath of a broken outside water line that would have sunk the basement completely had I not saved every paper and book since college boxed down there! Just an aside: boxed books and paper make great sponges if left on the the basement floor. Meanwhile, an hour later I noticed the tree crew had taken down all the smaller hardwoods, too! I’m still struggling to smooth out all the pulp left. The yard is a mess but it is nice to see the sun and know those pines don’t pose a risk to us or the home.

    1. It makes SUCH a difference in the light coming into the house, especially from the front yard!

  10. I’m in North Carolina, and I have 21 Pine trees on my property that I want taken down. I’m an older man, and these Pine trees are working me to death with all of the straw and cones they drop. I’ve had several companies come out and provide estimates. It’s a very expensive endeavor. They all want to paid in full after the job is completed. None of them offer financing. Are there companies out there who would cut down the trees for free and keep the wood? Pine is still used for flooring, shelving, and other uses. Thanks.

    1. I don’t know of any companies that would cut the trees down for free. Pine is used for lots of things, but the cost of removing them from homes a few at a time probably doesn’t make it profitable enough to make the job worth it (since lumber mills produce a lot in large quantities, it lowers the overall cost to produce per unit, and they also wouldn’t have to worry about the insurance of potentially damaging lots of homes in the way). In my area, the tree removal companies will resell the wood they cut down as wood pulp (or a similar product), so I didn’t need to pay for a disposal cost. I guess that’s one way that the costs would stay lower than if they actually got rid of the wood altogether.

  11. Thanks for sharing this. To be honest this really makes me want to learn to become a tree removal specialist. I know that it is a challenging job, but I have always loved climbing trees and seeing the crew go up the tree makes me a little jealous. Weird, I know, but it is one of those things that I have always wanted to do. I just like being in high places.

  12. My husband and I just moved into a new house, and it has a beautiful yard. However, here is a huge tree right in the middle, and it covers our view of the mountains. Not only that, but it drops leaves and sticks all the time, and we have to clean them up all the time. We really want to have it removed, and after reading this, we need to hire a professional. It is a huge tree, and there is no way we would be able to do this on our own. I really like what you said about finding someone who is not only priced correctly, but is very trustworthy.

  13. I really appreciate your shared experience with hiring a tree removal service. I definitely think your tip of letting companies know that you’re just looking is very helpful. Often times we can feel pressured to follow through on a service right away. It’s important to make sure that it’s the right company.

  14. There is a pretty big tree in our backyard that we have been thinking to get rid of, but we didn’t know how to choose the right person to help us out. I really like that you say to get a few different quotes from different people. It would be nice to know that you will be able to get the best options for your yard.

  15. You made a good point that I should try to get as many quotes as I can before I settle for a tree removal service. There is a tree withing my property that is currently infested by termites and I’m afraid that they might migrate to my house someday. I think it would be great to get the tree removed as soon as possible.