A national franchise operates in Burlington. We’re not.

ISA Certified. Fully insured. Locally owned. One arborist, accountable to you from the first call to the final cleanup.

The franchise model and what it costs you

Bartlett and Davey are both present in the Burlington market. Both are legitimate companies with long histories. Both operate on a franchise model where the sales function, the arborist function, and the labor function are separate — and where your project passes through multiple hands before work starts.

We operate differently. One certified arborist assesses your trees. The same person manages the work. You have one point of contact, and that person owns the outcome.

When something comes up on a job — and with large trees in Burlington’s older neighborhoods, something often does — you are not navigating a corporate chain of command. You’re calling the arborist who was on your property, who knows your trees, and who is accountable to you directly.

What ISA Certification means for you

An ISA Certified Arborist has passed the International Society of Arboriculture’s professional examination and maintains their credentials through continuing education. The certification covers tree biology, structural assessment, disease diagnosis, pruning standards, and safe work practices.

In practical terms: when we look at a tree, we can tell you what’s actually wrong with it — not just whether it’s big enough to be a problem. We can distinguish a structurally compromised tree from a healthy one with a large canopy. We can identify Emerald Ash Borer damage, Dutch Elm Disease, and the early signs of decline that determine whether a tree can be saved.

That diagnosis changes the recommendation. Sometimes the right answer is treatment, not removal. A certified arborist can tell the difference. A franchise crew pricing a removal cannot.

Vermont’s urban canopy has specific threats

Burlington’s urban canopy includes sugar maples, American elms, white ash, birch, oak, and conifers. Each has its own biology, its own structural characteristics, and its own threats.

White ash throughout Chittenden County is under pressure from the Emerald Ash Borer — a destructive invasive pest that has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees across North America. American elms face Dutch Elm Disease. Sugar maples are climate-sensitive and show stress in ways that require trained eyes to read correctly.

We know these trees. We know what healthy looks like and what compromised looks like. That knowledge changes what we recommend — and sometimes it means recommending treatment instead of removal, which is better for the homeowner and better for the neighborhood.

Fully insured — and we prove it

We carry full liability insurance and workers’ compensation. We provide certificates of insurance before any job starts. This is not optional — it is the standard we hold ourselves to on every project.

Tree work near structures carries real risk. An uninsured crew that damages your property, your neighbor’s fence, or a power line puts that liability on you. We remove that risk entirely.

Serving Burlington, South Burlington, and Williston

We focus our work in our service area. If you’re nearby and unsure whether we cover your location, call us.

Let’s talk about your trees.

Or fill out the short form and we’ll reach out within one business day.