For the last 25 years, we have offered consistently high quality and reliable service throughout the DC Metropolitan Area.

We feel confident that once you compare our quality, reputation, credentials, and honest, fair pricing you will choose us.

Tree work is risky and accidents, unfortunately, do happen. Liability insurance covers damage to your home and injury to any non-employees who may stray into the work zone (any professional company will have the area cordoned and coned off, as needed, with flagmen monitoring the site to minimize this kind of incident). Insurance also covers your neighbor’s as well as municipal property and utilities. Try explaining to your neighbor why the tree service you hired dropped a 1000 pound log through their roof and that you can’t locate them or their insurance company.

Needless to say, insurance is critical and a must have for any tree service, in fact, it’s the law in many states, including Maryland. If in doubt (and you should be, unless you know a company well) about whether a company is covered or not, ask that the insurance agent for the company send or fax you a certificate of insurance. Having the agent send it will weed out those tree services that have had their policies lapse - after all even a company with a lapsed policy can provide you with a certificate of insurance - it may appear valid, and be dated within the annual time frame that the policy was issued in, but how do you know whether last months premium was paid or not?

Workmen’s compensation is a must have, and again it’s illegal to operate a tree service, or any business, with very few exceptions, for that matter without it. Covering employees in case of injury is not only the law, it’s ethical and morally correct. So what if you hire a tree service without workmen’s compensation and an employee gets hurt? That employee is going to have medical bills, possibly rehabilitative costs, and new job training. Employer not covered? Well, the next best thing for the employee is to contact a hungry, no-nonsense lawyer, and go after-you guessed it-the homeowner. If an employer does not have insurance, and an incident occurs, you could very well find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit. Don’t be tempted by lowball hacks- you are taking a huge risk.

In Maryland a tree expert license, issued by the state Department of Natural Resources is required by law for a company to trim or remove a tree (certain diameter guidelines apply). An applicant is required to pass a stringent exam before a license is issued. A license can be revoked for not having insurance, not adhering to proper industry guidelines, and for unethical business practices. Although the District of Columbia and Virginia have not caught up to Maryland in this regard and do not have licensing requirements at the moment, wouldn’t you want to know that the company you hired, if you live in one of those two states is at least licensed somewhere?? Another qualification to look for when choosing a tree service is an ISA certified arborist. The International Society of Arboriculture certifies those arborists who pass a very challenging and thorough exam, testing on many different aspects of tree care. Continuing education is required to keep certification current. Although the ISA does not have regulatory powers, the ISA certification is a standard that a customer can look for when hiring a tree service-in fact, because certification is voluntary, you can be sure that any individual who is ISA certified takes the practice of arboriculture very seriously. More and more government agencies and commercial purchasing agents, looking for a broader standard than state licensing (after all, several companies from different states may bid on the same federal contract for instance), require the respected ISA designation for prospective bidders. Look for it, especially if you live in a municipality that does not require licensing.

Finally, if your gardener, landscaper, painter or roofer tell you they can trim or remove your trees, and even though they might have insurance in their respective fields, remember that insurance probably will not cover tree operations-insurance is very specific and covers only that industry for which it was designated for. Also they are not arborists. You wouldn’t hire us to paint your house, likewise don’t hire anybody except a licensed or ISA certified arborist to take care of your trees.

In short, even though you may save some money hiring an unlicensed and/or uninsured company or individual-you are taking a huge risk. The money you save will be nothing compared to having your trees butchered, your property damaged, or an employee hurt on your property. We carry $2,000,000.00 of liability insurance, workmen’s compensation, and are licensed in the state of Maryland, as well as ISA certified. We will be glad to provide you with certificates of insurance, and proof of licensing.