In late June - early July, the owner of Ridgecrest Tree Service came out to see what the work was that I wanted done. I told him then that I wanted JUST the dead branches removed from the two pines in my backyard. It was almost a month later when he came back to actually do the work. I was busy at work on the morning he came to my home - but I spoke with him on the phone twice and I re-iterated both times that I only wanted the dead limbs removed. I am still trying to comprehend what part of "JUST clear out the DEAD stuff" he didn't understand.
I DID NOT ask that he prune, trim or clean out my trees. I asked him to clear out the DEAD limbs. Instead, he cut off 2, 4, and 6 inch diameter LIVE limbs. And then he stripped many of the remaining lower limbs out to little tuffs on the ends. He claimed he had to do all that to get rid of the dead. NOT TRUE. He also claimed the branches and forks in the branches would or were cracking - none of which was true. Both trees were full, healthy, lush, vibrant, beautiful trees - especially the one next to my patio. It also provided shade in the mid to late afternoon for the patio - but not any more!
Unlike a deciduous tree - which can come back from a severe pruning, a pine will never re-grow. It will never come back to its previous beautiful self.
Ninety-nine percent of the time I make sure I am present when a contractor is doing work for me - for just this reason. For that misstep, I am kicking myself.
Previously I had another business do some work on my pines in the front yard - they did an excellent job. Unfortunately I was not able to reach them to do the trees in the back. If anyone needs more information - I invite them to come and look at my trees. They can see the top of the tree by the patio - where thankfully he didn't get to - to see what the whole tree used to look like. Then make your own decision. Unfortunately I do not have 'before' pictures. But they can also compare to the trees out front.
I acknowledge that even 'EXPERTS' in the same field have different opinions about how things should be done - and pruning of plants and trees is no exception. It is probably one of the ones with the most differing opinions. However, I did not ask him to prune the trees and I thought that the 'customer is always right' - unless safety is an issue - when it comes to what they want with regard to their home and property. There was No safety issue in this case.
$500 would not be bad for quality work - but his was NOT quality work.. read more
