Skilled and efficient crew. We have had them come to prune our very old maple tree several times. read more

I would not use this company. Kathy, the owner just came to my property to put no parking signs up for a neighboring project. When I went outside to ask what was going on, she stated I wouldn't be able to park in front of my house. I said oh, what date? "It's on the sign. I have no idea." When I questioned the reasoning of blocking our driveway and parking she said, "do you have a problem or something?" I explained we have a young child and parking further away can be a burden especially if it's raining. "It's just for one day, she said." When I told her she couldn't just block my front path and driveway with signs, she started yelling at me and said, "it's legal for me this is a public street." She then angrily folded up the sign and marched up our stairs and put the sign on our property. She put the sign on top of some of our halloween decorations and knocked them over. I told her she was trespassing on private property and she wasn't allowed to put her sign on my land. She said, "are you going to be a pain in the ass to me because I am to you?" I said absolutely now get off my property. This is a local business with a bad attitude. I don't appreciate a confrontational business owner coming to my property to tell me what they need to do. Had she kindly asked or explained, it would not have been a problem. Go with someone else. read more

I got estimates from a few tree services and Out On A Limb was the most reasonable for the work being done. Kathy and Levecke were easy to communicate with and responded quickly to emails. The crew did a wonderful job and efficiently took down a tree in a difficult spot without damaging anything nearby - even the flowers and bushes around the tree were barely scratched. I'll definitely be using them for tree services in the future and recommending them to friends. read more

I would not recommend this tree service (with Kathy Holzer) due to poor communication quality and lack of people skills. Kathy seems rude and very much focused on her own business perspectives -- sign the contract and pay promptly. First of all, I am a layman who's far from a perfect character. However, I have had 13 years of rental management experience with a few dozens of properties. And I have tried to build up a long-term business relationship by chatting with Kathy on the phone and learning about the uniqueness about her business style. Well, it didn't work out. For example, I was told by Kathy that I needed to obtain a permit from City of Seattle. While learning the updated permit application process, Kathy kept asking me to pay 50% down for a new proposal. I asked if we should wait and would not be able to start the work before the City permit. Without acknowledging my statement, she responded that they're separate issues (permit vs. payment). Then, she realized that I hadn't agreed with the proposal yet... There have been some "really bad luck" while working with Kathy's company. My personal check was probably stolen from a local postal mailbox and fraudulently reproduced by the criminal at the end of June 2023. The mail was dropped off at the exactly same address with Kathy's PO Box. Immediately after fraud case being identified, I explained the circumstances to Kathy with the evidence provided by my banker. Then, I set up an appointment with her staff with a cashier's check within 24 hours of being frauded on my personal checking account. (Not sure if I can recover my own financial loss yet.) Oddly enough, the inquired meeting address was strangely misleading by Google Maps (17039 NE Bothell Way, in the middle of a major T-intersection). I contacted Kathy for clarification. The response from Kathy was "I'm tired of playing games....cashier's check only..." I was bit of shocked. So, I explained my findings on the address error to her by email. Again, the other person neither acknowledged the fact nor "cooled down" from the difficult situation. Kathy pushed on her agenda again, "you have exhausted my compassion already." At this point, I realized that I needed to double check on myself and see what I could have done to save the circumstances. In the meantime, I searched the historical reviews online. Many people/customers were seemingly happy with this company. However, I also found several negative reviews on Yelp under "Out On A Limb Tree" through the past 15+ years. Those people who agreed upon each other for something. So, I am not alone to believe that Kathy was rude. Again, I admit that I am far from a "perfect" person who can smartly resolve all kinds of difficult issues. Sorry about that. To be fair, Kathy finally decided to waive 5% of late fees after my written request by email. I do appreciate that. And I understand that she also decided to "walk away" from a "troublesome" person like myself. The lesson learned is that I probably shouldn't chosen this tree service to begin with. It seems the best for both sides. Thank you very much for reading this. Really appreciate your time and consideration. Best luck to your choice of tree care service(s) and your beautiful home(s) !!! read more

We have some fruit trees that had gotten too tall and so had them topped a year or so ago. Since then they have developed suckers that have grown way above the topping line. I asked for the trees to be brought back down to the line, but instead only some of the suckers were removed. The company claimed that their estimate indicated what they would do, but all it said was "manage sucker growth" which I assumed meant that they would do what I had asked for. I would definitely *not* use this business again. read more

The crew who trimmed our overgrown hedge arrived promptly, were friendly and polite. They moved lawn furniture out of the way, worked efficiently, and did a great job. They put everything back exactly where it was and cleaned up the trimmings. All this and they came in under the estimate! read more

We "had" a beautiful tree on our backyard that was growing over the neighbors view. She hired these tree butchers at Out on a Limb to come do the work. We've used other tree services before and they always came out to review exactly what they would be doing and tagged the trees. These people showed up and butchered the center of the tree out and left the bottom branches sticking out and lopsided. We called them and they refused to come out and fix anything or take any responsibility. I would not recommend using them, they will destroy your trees. read more

I would not recommend this organization. June of 2008 I had this company come out prune a flowering purple leaf plum so it would be healthy - remove crossing branches - remove branches growing straight up (perpendicular to the ground) etc. Setting up the trimming was easy. They came and performed their service during the arranged time. They cleaned up all their trimmings very nicely. The actual trimming left me dissatisfied. All the branches that were growing straight up out of other branches were left. (if you have a flowering plum you know the branches I'm talking about). The tree was "trimmed to code" on the street side which essentially meant a giant chunk was cut out of the street side canopy. I can actually accept this sever trim code being code. However this chunk wasn't balanced at all by any other canopy adjustments so my tree looked extremely ridiculous and like someone with no idea of how a tree should be shaped just hacked away at it and left it to grow out. When I very politely communicated my astonishment at all the straight up growing branches being left and the giant gouge out of the side canopy with no other adjustment to balance the "code" trimming I was told "Your tree was trimmed to code and according to accepted arboreal practices. There was nothing wrong with our work." No effort was made or offered to address my concern. I could have done a better job myself and indeed I ended up having to remove all the straight up branches they left and have over the last few years attempted to reshape the tree so it is balanced AND fits code I would never ever recommend this organization. read more

We had a beautiful but very sick and unstable big leaf maple in our backyard, in an awkward place , that could only be accessed through our neighbor's yard. Out on A Limb Tree Co was able to cut it down, remove the limbs, chip them and clean up all in an efficient and neat way. The crew was easy to work with, courteous and did an excellent job. Kathy's bid was competitive (expensive, but it was a big, dangerous job) and the complicated permit process was explained completely. We feel we had a as good an experience as one can have with tree removal. read more

I have worked with Kathy and her crew many times at our property on Capitol Hill. They are terrific and do some great great work. I read the other reviews and while she does get very very backed up, I have never had the issues in communication others have had. She is very direct (as am I) and to the point, but I find her charming and nothing but professional, courteous and a VERY hard worker. Her team know what they are doing and get the job done and also educate you on your trees while they are it. They are a very busy bunch of extremely hard working people, I would recommend them to anyone and I would invite Kathy over for Thanksgiving Dinner, she rules! read more

Why I use Out on a Limb. 1. I like that the owners name is Kathy 2. Her and her crew do good, safe work and a reasonable price. 3. Once, when I was an idiot and was whining about what I thought was an issue, I discovered that I was wrong, but Kathy and her crew did right by me anyway... I like companies that work to make customers, not just a sale. read more

Kathy and her employees are great. They work quickly and more importantly SAFELY. We have employed her company twice, and have been extremely satisfied each time. They do exactly what was requested, making sure not to damage anything. Kathy is very pleasant and personable. She lets us watch, keeps us safe, and has a wonderful sense of humor and personality. All her employees are very knowledgeable and pleasant people to be around. We will always call on her when we need the kind of service she provides, and highly recommend her to everyone. Nick & Mary Rutherford read more

I emailed Out on a Limb for a quote to have a large maple tree pruned and received a quick response. Kathy (Arborist) came out to assess the tree and provided a virtual quote promptly while I was away at work (which made it simple). Due to the pandemic, the company was clearly taking extra care to ensure everyone's safety by making sure there was no contact. They also wanted to ensure that my neighbors were informed and took care in this regard to do everything professionally. The pruning was perfectly done and the cleanup was superb. I also corresponded with Levecke to set up the scheduling and coordination. Levecke was such a delight to work with! Kathy and Levecke made it so easy to do business with them. I highly recommend this local company! read more

Kathy did some work for me last spring. She came well recommended by a friend. She's pruned my fruit, and lilac, trees. I found her knowledgeable and pleasant to work with. I don't understand the review below-- I'd say she's quite professional and knows her stuff. read more

We had a great experience with Out on a Limb. In fact, Kathy came over to our house within a day or two of our inital contact. We had a tree that ended up having to come down. It was so large she was going to coordinate with someone to help her. She was so concerned that she arranged the additional help quickly. After the tree was removed, she spent an addtional day pruning the rest of our lot. Several of our neighbors were so impressed they hired her, without issue, too. Recently another aborist was working at our neighbors and asked who did such great work on our trees. When we told him Kathy had done the work several years ago he was blown away. He was professionally impressed. read more

We contracted out on a limb for tree pruning, requesting they cut back several (3-4) trees on our property, most of which were small or mid-sized. Despite having made clear the trees we wanted over the phone, Kathy and team's initial estimate removed several trees we'd asked for -- to our dissatisfaction. We were told that any additional work over and above what was on the estimate would be charged by the hour, despite the trees that were removed being small to mid-sized like the others. We believe this was done in an effort to shorten the job on our property so they could hit more houses. The estimate was done when we weren't around, again causing consternation for us as we couldn't provide input. The initial date that was given to us was a Friday, which they no-showed. We contacted them and were given a date nearly a month later. When the team finally arrived we ended up asking for the additional trees that were removed from the estimate be trimmed as well, and were charged for an additional 3 labor hours for the relatively small amount of work for two small trees. We felt this was excessive but were already committed to getting the work done after having waited so long at that point. In the end, we felt Kathy's written correspondence over e-mail was incredibly rude and extremely unprofessional, she made clear just how how much we'd inconvenienced her crew and supposedly "cost them money" for asking for the work we wanted to begin with (despite the fact we were going to be paying for the additional work, and it was only two small trees) and that the whole job took longer than she'd expected, blaming the customer for asking for a service we'd asked for all along. It was clear she was more interested in being accusatory than trying to understand the pain she'd caused us as clients, from which maybe her business could improve. The work that was completed was marginally satisfactory, but the trees could have been cut back more in several places (near cable lines, near the home in overhang areas). Cannot recommend, as the company left us feeling undervalued and unsatisfied, and the owner was so rude as to leave a terrible taste in our mouths with her unprofessionalism after having been incredibly delayed in getting to our house to begin with, then seemingly rushing to finish the job and blaming us when we asked questions. We won't be using them again. read more

Unprofessional attitude, inappropriate communication, and very slow to respond. Chose not to hire her. I don't need drama and attitude from my arborist. read more

Kathy and her team are quick, responsive and skilled. They clearly care about the work the do. It's nice to know that they can handle the work without me having to be home and that we can touch base quickly via email. I've never been disappointed and would highly recommend them to anyone willing to trust an awesome team of professionals. read more

I wish there were 6 stars or 10 stars. Kathy came out to our house immediately after we contacted her about our tree problem. She set a date that was good for us and she and her crew showed up on time this morning. They were nothing short of amazing. To see her way up in the tree dexterously cutting limb after limb of a mature and sick cherry tree....was so reassuring. She and her crew were competent, strong and hard working. They were in and out in the time frame she gave us. She was respectful of our property and they all cleaned up perfectly. Kathy was kind enough to walk the property with my husband to talk about our other concerns and to give us advice. read more

i needed a couple of plum trees pruned & was able to get a time set up very quickly. kathy came, listened carefully to what i wanted, told me what she was going to do, gave me some thoughtful advice about another tree in my yard & then got to work. i watched her out there in the drizzle, carefully trimming away, stopping to assess her progress & then continuing on. i think the end result shows she cares about trees. i will definitely use them again for any pruning needs i have in the future. read more

All correspondence was over email. Kathy came and assessed our tree situation while we were at work, which was fine, but it was a little strange to not have any face to face contact. She was very professional and responded pretty quickly to emails and concerns. The reason why I am giving 3 stars is b/c I wanted to have our trees pruned back away from the house more, but what they ended up doing was cutting off branches that were close to the house. I guess I was just expecting to see a marked difference in before/after the pruning and I have to say that it didn't look like much pruning had been done. Still, the service was good. read more

Out on a Limb pruned a large (60') white pine for our small homeowners' group. They did a great job of cleaning up each branch. They created a view for one neighbor and cabled another branch to the trunk to allay fears of another neighbor about the safety of an overhanging branch. They cleaned up after themselves and left no damage to the plants below. Bravo! This company is well-known for taking good care of the trees they work on - recommended by Plant Amnesty because they prune true to the natural shape of the tree with no topping. I'd trust them with any of my trees. They do get busy in the winter months so you have to book early. read more

Kathy and her crew are the best around. She first did pruning at our home, and helped us through the process of losing a huge sweet gum tree, removing it professionally and safely. Because of our great experience, I referred the company I work for to her, and she has become a trusted and valued contractor, pruning street trees and parking lot trees for our retail locations. read more

Easy communication. Great bid. Nice folks to work with and incredible results. My trees look great. Some trees were trimmed back from the house, and the strategic cuts still leave shade and privacy where I wanted it. Job site was left very clean: wood chips added to a wood chip pile and branches added to a bird brush pile. I had 2 gangly trees that had been badly pruned in the past and now they are well shaped. The whole property feels better for having had this expert work done. read more

Our experience confirms all of the well deserved positive reviews. We've used Kathy's company twice, most recently this week. Here's what I wrote in a letter thanking Kathy for the crew's work: Just wanted to say Lisa and I are both very happy with the work your crew did this morning. I'm sorry I didn't get everyone's name but Emily and her two coworkers were cheerful, helpful, hard working and efficient. Can't ask for more than that! Any time you need a letter of recommendation feel free to let us know. We will use Out On A Limb again and would recommend them to anyone with no reservations whatsoever. They do a terrific job! read more

Not reliable and didn't do the job we agreed on.. Kathy is hard to reach and when she gets back to you via email, she isn't very nice - I wouldn't normally work with someone who is like this but I used her in the past and I don't remember her being like that - maybe she was having a bad day... Anyway, it took 6 weeks for her to get out - it was a busy time of the year for her and I wasn't in a rush. She gave me a bid for the project but didn't complete several items as were written in our emails. I was in the back yard checking out things to make sure it was all good and when I realized some things weren't finished I tried to catch her as she was pulling out with her truck but it was too late. We played one game of phone tag and then instead of trying to have a conversation about my concerns and trying to work it out, she just emailed to say she was sending my bill and that she did a great job and was sorry I didn't like it; and that she would be happy to come back to do more it if I paid her for it (even though it was included in her original bid). In her mind she had finished the job. I actually even have photos and emails to prove it wasn't completed. This was a job for about $2000 - and I was a repeat client....I do remember her being hard to contact when I worked with her before but not so unapproachable and well, I hate to say it but just rude. I am not writing all details about the terrible experience because I am trying to stay just on the arborist issues... I did however, have another arborist come out several weeks after to do another section of the yard with large trees and to fix what Kathy didn't do and he did a great job. Before he left, he said that I should check everything out and if there was something that needed adjusting that he would be happy to come back free of charge. In fact, he even called me later that day to make sure it was all good. What a difference in customer service. As for Kathy, unless she reads this review, I don't think she will try to work it out with you based on how she handled my situation. read more

Only way to contact this company is over email. Won't call you on the phone and won't commit to a timeline to do the work. She gives you an estimated timeline and then never contacts you again. Wanted some light pruning done around my home, shouldn't have been a big deal. Very unprofessional and a total waste of my time waiting around for nothing. Wouldn't recommend this company to anyone unless you like being jerked around. read more

After a bad experience with a bamboozling "arborist" who came to our house and tried to scare us into spending a lot of money on our trees, we requested a number of estimates from tree trimmers. Kathy's estimate was the most clear and straightforward. Her crew arrived on time, and Kathy went through the yard with us to explain what she thought needed to be done both immediately and in the long term. They did exactly what we discussed, left the yard in great shape, and the bill was consistent with the estimate. Can't ask for much more. Highly recommended. We WILL hire them again. read more

It was difficult to schedule Ms. Holzer and her crew. By the time they were able to get to my house to trim some trees, it was many weeks out and I was on vacation. When I returned home, I can attest that the crew left my yard neat, but then again, there was little evidence they had done much. They supposedly trimmed a sweet cherry "for fruit production" but left most of the fruit producing branches 25 to 40 feet above ground level where they are impossible to harvest by anyone except the birds or perhaps someone with a "cherry picker". I have trimmed this tree myself much more effectively in the past. Another tree was supposed to be trimmed to enhance view, they failed completely in approaching that goal and left the tree's crown very unbalanced in shape. In short, Out on a Limb Tree Company promised much but delivered very little. Although I paid them for their work, I will never use them again. They do not listen to the customer. If you are inclined to use them based on positive reviews (of which there are several), I suggest that you make sure you are on the premises when they work to make sure you get adequate service, but you will need to have a very flexible work schedule to accommodate them because they certainly will not accommodate you. David in Seattle read more

I'm always bemused by bad or "meh" reviews from people who complain of a tree service that they "couldn't even tell the tree had been pruned." Ladies and gents, that's exactly what I want -- a trim job so natural-looking that it seems that the tree grew that way! When I ask for a tree to be thinned and trimmed, I want the deadwood removed and the balance of light, air and foliage restored. Which I got the first time round, when I called OOAL to thin our tall deodar cedar. Today OOAL came out to do extensive work: thin and deadwood a giant 3-headed hemlock that had never been touched; limb up a Doug fir over our garage; trim and thin a large, weirdly shaped black walnut that was draped over our poor neighbor's garden; prune a lanky Italian plum; and trim the aforementioned deodar. They also removed a sickly honey locust, a light-starved rhodie, a bloomless lilac, a diseased plum and a volunteer Indian plum. From seven till two, three guys swarmed the place and I couldn't have asked for a more courteous, knowledgeable and respectful crew. Did I have to schedule weeks in advance? Yep. Would I do it again? You betcha! read more

Out on a Limb did an incredible job of removing a 150 ft. dead cypress from my front yard. The entire crew was very professional and efficient. I was pretty impressed that they did it without harming a single plant. I got three bids and they were all within a couple hundred dollars of each other...I choose Out on a Limb because of a recommendation from a neighbor and reviews on Yelp, so I wanted to add my two cents worth here. read more

Fantastic job saving a large badly-topped cedar deodora (sp?) on my property. Kathy also took care of some other trees she noticed needed attention. Worked quickly, left the yard clean and stacked the firewood. Majorly improved the aesthetics of my yard - I really couldn't ask for better. Highly recommend. read more

We've had Kathy out to our house to do work on our trees and have had a really great experience with her every time. She is extremely knowledgeable and caring, does great work in a timely fashion, at a very reasonable price. She has gone above and beyond our expectations. Highly recommended! read more

Kathy is the consummate professional. She immediately responded to my request for an estimate, showed up when she said she would, put us on her schedule, kept me informed by email, and showed up as promised with a crew of 7 on one of the worst, windiest, coldest days of December. They spent the day in our 80-foot firs and twisted maples in driving rain and wind. They inspected, trimmed branches, removed 2 trees; and when they were finished, all that remained was a tidy stack of maple rounds. Kathy took care of getting flaggers for our busy street. After it was all done, she checked back with me to see if there was anything else for them to do before they left. Service gets no better than this. No extra charges -- no late arrivals -- no missed appointments. Plus, I got free entertainment, watching the amazing tree people! read more

We were exceptionally pleased with our entire experience with Out On a Limb! We had one large overgrown tree pruned and another large tree removed. The work was done safely (with great teamwork and communication) and carefully (watching out for key plants below), and they even made helpful suggestions of how to "advertise" the unwanted wood, which easily disappeared with no cost to us. The pruned tree looks beautiful--lighter, healthier, more balanced, but not too drastic a change. The quote was very reasonable (and yes we got many different quotes), the work was excellent, and the final bill was actually a bit less than was quoted since it didn't take as long as they'd expected. Even our neighbors (whose yard the trees partially overhung) were really impressed with how professional, and pleasant the crew was and how low-impact the entire job was to our yard(s) below. Couldn't be happier! read more

I emailed Kathy when I heard/saw their truck pruning a big leaf maple across the street from me this morning. I had a Raywood ash in my backyard that has been having dieback issues and had lost a few major branches and part of the crown. The dieback had been contained and was growing, but was concerned with dead wood falling. I asked if they could take a look and give a bid. Alex on their crew came over saying she'd been given permission to take a look at the tree. The next thing I knew she was scaling the ash and taking out the dead wood trying to establish a new leader. She knew what she was doing. When I asked how much I owed her, she told me to Pay It Forward! What a delightful young woman was Alex. I am impressed with the sense of community that Out On A Limb exhibited. Her charity of choice was Plant Amnesty, a local non-profit that educates the public in correct pruning of plants. I'm duly impressed and happy to pass along their thoughtful help to an old lady. read more