Southern Tree Care

The owner claims to know what he's doing. We had to have sod layed in our backyard after we had pool put in and asked him if he was going to rake the dirt to make the yard smooth and he said yes and they didn't they layed the sod over the rough ground and the ruts from the cement trucks so my yard is very rough and bumpy. They tried to pound the dirt balls out instead of Harley rake and he kept telling us he knows what he's doing when we asked about it.Then only put a small layer of mulch down and when asked to put more mulch he told us 6 yards would do and when he came back to do the mulch they only took care of one side of the yard and kept the rest of the mulch for his next job and because I took his word that he'd fix what I wanted fixed I finished paying him and he took his money and ran. Paying someone $12,000.00 u want perfect work and done right. Now I have to have another landscaper out to see what can be done with the very rough yard and to lay more mulch.

Southern Tree Care is a misnomer. No one at this "business" understands the concept of care, either for trees, or for customers. When things go south, they don't seem to care or take responsibility. When anyone hires someone else to do a job, the universal expectation and understanding is that the contractor is educated enough to make the right decisions for the job. For some reason, Jeremy and his team thought it was appropriate and wise to "top" the silver maple trees on my property. During the job itself, I even expressed concern about the severity of the pruning. He told me all horizontal branches were being removed and that the trees would not need trimming again for 5-7 years. The trees were about 20 years old at that time and had never been trimmed so I thought nothing of it. They were "topped", meaning all green material was removed. At that time I assumed they would grow back into some semblance of the shade trees they had been the next year. Unfortunately, the next year they did not "come back" and consisted of several large dead vertical branches and the leaves were growing directly from the trunk. Naturally, Jeremey is contacted and never returned messages. In April, a written letter is addressed to Jeremy, in which the intent to file a complaint with BBB would be filed if a refund was not issued for the detrimental service, & the removal of the trees, which are now dying as a result of the job. All of a sudden, Jeremy decides to get into contact, but literally states that he "would not be where he is today" in response to the requests. So not only does Jeremy know that he has done shotty work before, he doesn't care! He then tries to deflect responsibility by stating that there are ants on the trees, calling them "infested". Even IF this were true, that information would have been pivotal in the beginning when deciding to move forward with any potential services. The "professional" crew should not have cut the trees if they knew this. The due diligence for assessment of the job falls squarely on the contractor, and to inform the client of any conditions before moving forward. Ever gotten your car fixed? Not only does Jeremy not take responsibility for his mistake, he had the audacity to try and charge another $1000 to remove the trees he butchered! In the Summer, the city forester came by the property on an unrelated matter and commented about how awful the trees looked. Naturally, I wanted to know more. A competitor in the tree trimming business came by and stated outright that silver maples should NOT be topped like that, and that the condition of the trees are most definitely from the topping debacle. Lastly, but certainly not least, a horticulturalist from UT came by and stated, "the carpenter ants did not cause this damage. The ants came second. Carpenter ants are opportunistic and take advantage of a weakened tree. Carpenter ants do not feed on wood, but they do create galleries within rotting wood to build their nest within the tree. Unlike termites, an insect that does eat wood, carpenter ants excavate tiny bits of wood that look like course sawdust. Evidence of a carpenter ant nest within a tree does not indicate the tree is in a state of decline." From any point of view, the fault lays squarely on Southern Tree Care. Whether it be from the improper use of techniques such as "topping", or shirking responsibilities by blaming an insect that does not even behave in ways they claim, the proper thing to do would be to issue a refund and remove the dead trees. The proper thing for you to do, is to hire someone who knows what they are doing in caring for your trees. Do not deal with someone who "wouldn't be where they are" if they were actually honest. When someone tells you who they are, listen. Perhaps going to court will get Jeremy to do the same.