Recommend an arborist in south Minneapolis?

September 4, 2012 1:20 PM

I'm looking for recommendations for arborists in south Minneapolis.

I don't like the way one of the trees in my backyard is looking; to my untrained eyes, it appears to be setting itself up to drop itself onto my house.

I'd like to get someone who actually knows what they're talking about to look at the tree (and, if necessary, do something about it). I've uncovered lots of contact info for arborists in south M, but their websites don't really tell me anything about them (except that most of them need better websites). I'm hoping that some Mpls MeFites have worked with local aborists and have recommendations.

So: what've you got?

posted by COBRA! to home & garden (7 answers total)

My dad has used and recommends Rainbow Treecare, and I know they have arborists on staff. When I needed someone to look at one of my trees, that's who he recommended to me. (We ended up using someone else who we found on Angie's List, but I can't remember the name. I'll come back here if it comes to me.)
posted by Area Man at 1:47 PM on September 4, 2012

I've heard good things about Tree Trust's Landscaping Services. I believe they are based out of St. Louis Park.
posted by lpcxa0 at 2:13 PM on September 4, 2012

Both Rainbow Treecare and A 1 Bob Sarff Tree Service Inc are reputable arborists in SMpls. I have friends who have used both, with outstanding results.
posted by lstanley at 3:20 PM on September 4, 2012

I bought a house with sketchy trees in the backyard, so I had a bunch of arborists out to take a look and give estimates:

* Seamus from Vineland Tree was great - he had wonderful suggestions, even beyond the main tree I was worried about. I couldn't be home when he stopped by, so he called me from my yard and talked through exactly what he was looking at.
* The arborist from Urban Tree & Landscape was also great. I was home when he came by, and he walked through the entire yard with me and answered my questions.
* We ended up having the work done by Bill with Urban Foresters (his actual website is down for some reason right now). I would have been happy to go with any of the arborists listed above, but the Urban Foresters bid came in well below the others. He was recommended by our realtor, who lives in the area.

Take a look at the local neighborhood forums on e-democracy, too. You can search their archives and find lots of super local recommendations - it's how I found some of the arborists, as well as a plumber, roofer, etc.
posted by Maarika at 6:13 PM on September 4, 2012

I've used Top Notch Treecare for several years and can vouch for them. They recently became a Bartlett location, but it's basically the same service.
posted by gimonca at 8:13 PM on September 4, 2012

Seeing Marika's recommendation reminded me that we used Vineland Tree to prune the tree in our back yard. They did a nice job and the price was reasonable.
posted by Area Man at 9:34 AM on September 5, 2012

Thanks, all. I'm making some calls.
posted by COBRA! at 10:32 AM on September 5, 2012