When my wife and I moved into our house last year, we fell in love with the old cherry tree in our backyard. There was just one problem. It was dead.

We hoped it might be revived. Or at least last for a little while longer … maybe until our daughter was old enough to climb it. But one neighbor was concerned because a large branch hung over his fence, right above his prized shed. I didn’t want to see that roof smashed.

Then, a few weeks ago, after a big rainstorm, a large branch came down … thankfully in our yard. But I knew it was time for the tree to go.
I called several local tree companies, and Jim of EconTree NW was the first to come out.

He took stock of the situation, pushing on the tree, visualizing how the take-down would go. He didn’t seem in a rush, and answered all the questions I had. He also gave me some useful suggestions.

For example, when I mentioned off-hand we were thinking of replacing the old tree with a younger cherry tree in another part of the yard, he offered this suggestion: Take a few pictures of the area and think about what we wanted in that space 5, 10, 20 years down the road. How tall. How big. Color. Etc. Then drive down to Sky Nursery and consult a master arborist to help us pick out the right tree that would fit our plans.

Cherry trees, Jim said, can be notoriously difficult to grow around here … many suffer from disease, so we might not want to invest 15 years in growing a tree just to see it die.

The other helpful suggestion Jim gave me concerned some other potentially problematic trees in our yard. In our front yard he saw a few pines and a tall willow that might interfere with the power lines soon.

When he pointed it out, I thought, “Okay, maybe he’s looking to book another job.” And I was fine with that, because I had already come to trust Jim. But he wasn’t looking for another sale -- Jim told me that the power company would take care of those trees, as long as they considered them a threat to the power lines. And he advised me how I might go about contacting the power company.

All in all, I was impressed with Jim: his expertise, his openness, and his useful information.
I had two other companies come out too. EconTree’s wasn’t the lowest bid … but I did have the most confidence in them, so I decided to hire them.

They booked my job about a week out, Just as Jim had mentioned would be the case. Jim wasn’t there for the job, but his crew chief, Douglas, arrived promptly on time, and he was courteous and clear about what needed to be done. He and his partner Keith set to work.

Douglas was fast and precise. He never made a false cut. And even though the tree was close to the fences of my neighbors, not a branch or twig fell on them.

Overall, the job took about 1.5 hours. Jim’s wife Meghan helped to speed things up, too. I had spoken with her previously on the phone when I was booking the job, and she was helpful. She even came out to help with the cleanup.

It can be stressful to hire an unknown company to come to your house and do a big job like cutting down a tree. Jim and his team took the time to walk me through the process and then they fulfilled their promises.