Kelly's Tree Care

We had used Kelly’s previously. I contacted them in early June requesting an arborist visit. I was told someone would contact me within a week and a half. No-one called. Twenty six days later I called and the person I spoke to could not commit to a date and could not seem less interested. They also had the wrong information on file.

I wasted a month. I would never recommend them.

This is my first time using a tree service/arborist. I had a smoke tree that suffered some severe damage (an incompetent firewood delivery guy). I wasn't sure if the damage could be repaired, patched, etc. See the accompanying photograph. I contacted a tree service company and they replied that they were too busy and that I should just wrap some burlap around the break. I don’t know anything about trees, but even I knew that this was bad advice.

So I contacted Kelly’s Tree Service. Within a couple of days an arborist was knocking on my door. I was so impressed with the expertise of the arborist, Wenda. She was friendly, professional and clearly knew her stuff backwards and forwards. The news wasn’t good (there was no saving the branch), but I had complete confidence in Wenda’s assessment of the damage. Wenda removed the damaged branch and gave me lots of advice—not only for my smoke tree, but also for an ailing cedar tree.

It’s unfortunate that my tree couldn’t be “repaired,” but I was completely happy with Wenda’s assessment. It’s great to work with someone with such extensive knowledge and experience.

The work was done very well, but the company almost doubled our initial quote, unfairly, and quite sneakily.

They charged us inappropriately for services and crew listed in the quote, but that never were at the work site.

Excellent service provided. They were on time, professional, did a great job and cleaned the site thoroughly.
This was a huge black walnut tree that had to be trimmed. It was not an easy job!
Great work!

We hired Kelly's Tree Care to take care of a huge silver maple canopy in Scarborough. Work was done on a super hot day and the 3 men, Graham Robyn and Paul we an absolute pleasure to have on our property. A difficult job and a very thorough clean up. The property and neighbors yard was not disturbed in any way. Thanks alot

The Kelly's crew (Ryan, Sean and Alex) pruned six big, old trees in my backyard to ensure their health, safety and aesthetics. The work was thoughtful and thorough, done with care and professionalism. What impressed me most were the little touches (lacking in other services I've hired): they covered all the perennials that might have been damaged; carefully moved all the furniture out of harm's way; even replaced a cover on the telephone wire, which had been dangling since the ice storm. And the clean-up was so meticulous that the only sign that they'd been there was more light and air in the yard. I can't recommend them highly enough.

It's probably early to review a tree planting - the trees' long-term survival is key. But describing our experience with Kelly's might be helpful.

We had 3 trees that had died and needed to be replaced. The arborist came and did an estimate, including sending a photo of her recommended tree species for the replacment trees. The colour of the trees in the photo were green, and there had been no discussion of the colour of the trees with the arborist at all. I had just assumed from the picutre that the trees would be roughly the same green colour as those being replaced.

On the day of the planting, the crew arrived with trees with purple leaves. So, on the day of the job, we had to frantically decide if we could live with the colour of the trees or to send them back and reschedule the planitng. After some debate, we decided to go ahead and plant the trees that had been delivered.

For supposed professionals dealing with trees all day, every day, this kind of mistake is unacceptable. If you hire a credentialed "expert" to do a job, nothing as basic as the colour of the trees should be miscommunicated. The final work order also mised another little job that had been discussed and agreed to. After a call with the arborist, the work was done, but it was another error.

So beware - if you hire Kelly's, don't rely on their professionalism, and instead make sure every last detail is discussed and documented. Ask to see the actual work order ahead of time.

The crew that did the planting itself were fine. They were careful to keep the worksite tidy, and even pruned another tree for us as they were wating for us to decide whether to keep the purple trees.

Finally - their fertilization/aeration services appear to be a bit over-priced for the work that actually gets done. Definitely shop around if you want this kind of service.

I have a large maple tree in my yard that in my opinion is too big and out of control. When I asked Kelly's for an estimate, I specifically said to the person who took the call to "cut it back as far as you can without killing it". My intention was to not have to pay to have this done for many more years to come. So when I received the quotation for around $900 (I was not home when the quote was done), I thought that was quite reasonable. I glanced over the arborist's notes/work order - they simply described which branches to cut, etc. There were no other notes - just instructions for the crew. So I hired Kelly's and the work was done on a day I was not home.
I was quite surprised to see when I got home that the large lower branches had indeed been cut off - great. But the top had not been touched. My instructions for "cutting it back as far as you can without killing it" were definitely not followed.

When I spoke with the company, they said the arborist's instructions were followed exactly. The arborist came out on another date and reviewed the work with me. It turns out that it is not good for this type of tree to be cut at the top; it can cause disease, etc. The arborist reiterated to me that the work was done as instructed and it was my responsibility to review the work order and I had agreed to what was written. There was also a lower branch hanging over my neighbour's side that I disputed should have been cut - she said that if I had requested that specifically at the time, it would have been done and included in the price. But if I wanted it done now, they would charge me $450 just for coming out again. She admitted to no errors on behalf of the company.

All in all, yes I made some mistakes. I had not commissioned work like this before and should have done my homework first. But I also feel there is an accountability to the company in all of this. I said on more than one occasion when speaking with various representatives over the phone the same thing "cut it back as far as you can without killing it". Not once did anyone ever say to me that this was not their practice or this could be bad for the tree, etc. Was this message even passed on to the arborist before her initial quote? I have no idea. If it was, why didn't she call me directly and tell me that this was not their practice? Or at least make a note of it on the work order?

The crew did a fine job. They cut the tree as instructed and left no mess behind.

Learn from my mistakes when hiring this or any other company:
1)speak directly with the arborist before agreeing to the work.
2)Make sure you are home when the arborist comes to give you a quote and make sure he/she fully understands the work you are expecting to be done.
3)Make sure you are home when the work is done.

contracted Kelly's to do an arborist report for a construction project. Arborist (Tara) did an excellent job, excellent communications, good turn-around time, comprehensive report at a reasonable price. Also provided a lot of very helpful advice for a number of city compliance matters we needed to resolve. It was a pleasure to work with this company - i cannot endorse them strongly enough.

This is the second time I have used Kelly's and I can't say enough good things. The staff is knowledgeable and passionate about their career in trees. They make good on their promises and do a good job tidying the mess afterwards. Wenda and Linda are great! I would definitely recommend to family and friends.