The Best Tree-Planting Services of 2023

Having a beautiful garden boosts curb appeal and increases property value, but for those looking to diversify their landscape and—quite literally—throw some shade onto the house, planting a tree is one of the best investments customers can make. Trees bring beauty, energy efficiency, clean air, and even improved mental health. Planting around a tree can create a unique focal point for any landscape. But before heading out to dig a hole, customers will want to consider the perks of hiring one of the best tree planting services to do the job. Hiring a professional not only saves customer from backbreaking labor but can also prevent property damage and ensure the long-term health of the chosen tree. This guide will help customers find the best tree planting services to get the job done.

1. BEST OVERALL: Davey
2. RUNNER-UP: SavATree
3. BEST FOR BUSINESSES: BrightView
4. BEST AGGREGATOR: Angi

What to Consider When Choosing One of the Best Tree Planting Services

Before deciding on one of the best tree planting services, there are several factors to take into consideration. These include where the tree planting service is located, what areas they service, availability, cost, certification, and any additional services offered. Customers will want to remember these following points when deciding who to hire.

Service Area and Scheduling

It can be frustrating for customers to research a tree planting service only to discover the company does not serve their area or that the company has limited or no availability. Customerrs will want to keep in mind even a company with a nationwide presence may not offer services in certain areas. Nationwide services will typically have a zip code search function on their sites, so a customer can input their zip code and make sure their property falls within a company’s service area. Before vetting any of a company’s services, potential customers will want to establish that the company serves their neck of the woods.

The best tree planting services allow for advance scheduling via phone or email or occasionally through an online portal. Customers will want to keep in mind the best time of year to plant a tree. In many climates, especially those with hot summers and cold winters, tree planting takes place primarily during the spring or the fall, so scheduling may be affected by this.

Quotes and Pricing

The cost of hiring a tree planting service will depend primarily on the tree’s size, location of the planting, and how much prep or equipment is needed to plant the tree. Whether the customer wants a small, medium, or large tree planting is usually the greatest factor affecting the cost to plant a tree. Customers will also want to determine if they have more than one tree to be planted. Some companies may need to do an in-person consultation to decide where to plant trees and what kinds of trees will best suit the yard before offering a quote.

Arborist Certifications and Insurance

Customers will want to know that the best tree planting services are bonded and insured, as tree planting, especially large tree planting, can cause damage to people and property. In addition, customers will want to look for a tree planting service that has certified arborists on staff. An International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist is the most common certification. ISA Certified Arborists are accredited on the individual level. This certification ensures significant knowledge and training in arboriculture. Certified Arborists also maintain a code of ethics to protect clients and public health and safety.

Some companies may also have business-level certification from the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA). TCIA accreditation is a third-party consumer-confidence verification program that offers potential customers assurances that the company adheres to safety and customer service best practices. Customers will want to ensure they’re working with Certified Arborists, but the TCIA accreditation is always a nice bonus to have.

Additional Services

Many of the best tree planting services offer other tree care services such as pruning, tree bracing and support, and general tree maintenance. Many of the best tree planting services also offer some of the best memorial tree planting services or best tree removal services. Some companies may also offer other basic yard work including lawn care such as mowing, turf installation, and fertilizing, as well as the care and maintenance of shrubs and other larger landscaping. Tree planting is often part of landscape design and installation, so a tree planting service may be included as part of a garden design plan.

Some of the best residential tree planting services may also offer the best tree planting services for commercial properties, so potential customers seeking commercial services will want to verify the tree planting company offers them.

Our Top Picks

We evaluated dozens of companies to identify the best tree planting services nationwide. These are our top picks for residential and commercial customers.

Best Overall

Davey

See It

• Service area: 47 states and Washington, D.C.
• Scheduling: Email, phone
• Arborist certifications: ISA
• Additional services: Tree treatment, pruning, removal, storm prep; lawn care; shrub pruning

Pros

• Tree Care Industry Association accreditation
• High level of expertise attributable to ongoing research and workload studies
• Environmentally friendly business practices
• Comprehensive online reference materials

Cons

• Guarantee may not apply to commercial customers

Why It Made the Cut: Davey offers top-notch tree planting services and general tree care to a wide service area while prioritizing environmentally friendly business practices. With over 100 locations throughout 47 states and Washington, D.C., Davey offers tree planting services and tree care from technicians with a high level of expertise, including ISA Certified Arborists. In addition, the company is TCIA-accredited, a third-party verification that assures consumers that tree care companies are qualified and identified as conducting business with ethics, safety, and current laws in mind. Davey’s environmental practices include immediate goals of reducing company water consumption and global fleet consumption by 35 percent per labor hour by 2023, so customers can feel confident that they’re working with an eco-concious company. Tree care technicians at Davey have access to the latest information regarding tree care, thanks to the Davey Institute. This is Davey’s research branch which studies trees, diseases, and treatments and works toward developing products, methods, and treatments for healthier trees. Customers also have access to a comprehensive database of reference materials online for finding answers to any questions about tree care after they’ve been planted. Although the satisfaction guarantee only applies to residential customers, the company offers both residential and commercial services, and any potential customers will appreciate that Davey regularly observes crews at work and compiles reports to gauge execution and efficiency. This practice helps ensure that problems that might arise on a crew are addressed and remedied, meaning a customer gets better results and a better customer experience.

Runner-Up

SavATree

See It

• Service area: 29 states and Washington, D.C.
• Scheduling: Email, phone
• Arborist certifications: ISA
• Additional services: Tree treatment, pruning, bracing, removal; shrub care; lawn care

Pros

• Tree Care Industry Association accreditation
• Convenient online customer portal
• Tree and landscape appraisal offered

Cons

• Commercial tree services may not be available at all locations

Why It Made the Cut: SavATree offers comprehensive tree planting services for both residential and commercial customers along with a host of other tree care and yard services. With both ISA Certified Arborists on staff and the company’s TCIA accreditation, SavATree offers tree planting services, tree removal, treatment, pruning, bracing, shrub, and lawn care in 29 states and Washington, D.C. Although the company offers commercial tree planting and other commercial tree services, these may not be available at every location, so customers seeking these services will want to verify that information with their local branch. Customers schedule initial consultations via email or phone but once established as a customer, bill pay is made through an easy online system. A stand-out service that SavATree offers is tree appraisals to help establish property value, tax deductions, and insurance claim adjustments. This appraisal uses standard guidelines for determining urban and residential tree value and can help customers determine the ideal spots to remove plant or transplant trees for both environmental health and resale value.

Best for Businesses

BrightView

See It

• Service area: 32 states
• Scheduling: Email, phone
• Arborist certifications: Not specified
• Additional services: Landscape design and installation, snow and ice removal, water management, turf care, tree removal

Pros

• Services available for wide variety of commercial markets
• LEED-certified landscape consulting

Cons

• Somewhat unclear certification status

Why It Made the Cut: BrightView offers tree planting services for commercial properties in a wide-reaching service area along with an array of commercial tree and landscaping services. BrightView offers some of the best tree planting services for commercial properties in 32 states throughout the U.S. As an exclusively commercial tree and landscape company, BrightView offers services to a wide variety of commercial customers, such as homeowners associations, apartment buildings, schools, and sports complexes. The company states it employs certified arborists, although the exact certification is not listed on the website. Scheduling is done either via email or the phone for any of their services, which go beyond commercial tree planting. BrightView offers tree removal and care along with commercial landscape consulting, design, installation, snow and ice removal, water management, and turf care. BrightView’s landscape designs are all LEED-certified, which means their services meet the protocols of third-party certification for environmental responsibility.

Best Aggregator

Angi

See It

• Service area: 50 states and Washington, D.C.
• Scheduling: Online
• Arborist certifications: Varies by provider
• Additional services: Varies by provider

Pros

• Customers can filter by project and choose from local professionals
• Streamlined and user-friendly website
• Comprehensive resource center organized by project type

Cons

• Name, phone number, and email are required to browse local services
• Persistent follow-up emails

Why It Made the Cut: Angi helps to streamline the search for local, vetted professional tree planting services nationwide. Angi is an aggregator of professional home services that can be searched by any customer in any location to discover tree planting services near them. Profiles of businesses include reviews by local customers and an overview of the service. The streamlined website and user-friendly process make it fast and easy for customers to hire the professionals they need when they need them, although customers will want to know they will need to enter their name, phone number, and email in order to browse local services. Angi does send regular follow-up emails once a customer has signed up, but the Angi account is necessary to gain access to the database of professionals. Once a customer has created a free Angi account, they can then filter their search by project and reach out directly to local pros to obtain quotes for nearly any home improvement project, including tree planting. Additionally, Angi offers a broad range of resources such as informational articles and comprehensive price breakdowns to help customers make more informed decisions about the services they need.

Our Verdict

Because of their certified professionals with high levels of expertise, environmentally friendly practices, wide service area, and third-party accreditation, Davey gets our pick for best tree planting services. SavATree, with its unique landscape appraisal service, is our runner-up.

How We Chose the Best Tree Planting Services

To determine the best tree planting services, we researched dozens of companies across the U.S., with a focus on companies that offered at least a multi-state presence and could therefore reach the most potential customers. We also prioritized companies with transparent certification and accreditation status. Other relevant factors included environmental practices, scheduling, pricing, and other services offered by the tree planting services, such as landscape design or lawn maintenance.

Before You Hire One of the Best Tree Planting Services

Before hiring a tree planting service, first and foremost, customers will want to know what kind of tree they want. It’s important to know how big a tree will grow, so location may be the biggest factor to consider. To maintain the health of the tree, the right amount of light and space to grow is vital. But maintaining property integrity and safety is also of great importance. Nearby power lines, homes, and other structures like garages and sheds should also be taken into account. Trees should be planted where they will not affect foundations, gas lines, underground electrical lines, or other utilities. Fortunately, the best tree planting services can help determine the right tree for the backyard, which allows the customer to see more long-term benefits of a tree rather than long-term problems.

Customers seeking a tree planting service may also want to consider the company’s additional services. Some customers may prefer to find a company that offers tree care and maintenance, for both the newly planted tree and other trees on the property or one that bundles in landscaping and best lawn care services at the same time.

Cost of Hiring One of the Best Tree Planting Services

The average cost to plant a tree ranges from $150 to 3,000, which may seem very broad. This is because several factors can affect the cost of tree planting. These include tree size, the specific species of tree, the tree’s age, and how long it will take to plant, i.e., labor costs. What equipment is needed can also have an impact on costs. Small tree planting may require little more than a wheelbarrow and a shovel, whereas large tree planting could require more heavy-duty equipment such as a tractor.

Small tree planting will cost closer to the lower end, between $150 to $300. A large tree planting is more likely to be in the $1,500 to $3,000 range, with a medium tree planting costing somewhere in between. Costs can go down per tree based on the number of trees planted and the type of tree.

For small tree planting, such as those that can be purchased at a garden center, customers may be able to plant the tree themselves. Some small trees come bare root or in a root ball, wrapped in burlap, or in containers that range between one and 15 gallons. Depending on the customer’s comfort level and strength, these may be planted without hiring professional tree planting services. However, the placement of the tree should be taken into consideration: it’s a waste of money to plant a tree somewhere it won’t thrive, and it’s an even bigger cost if the tree causes damage to the property. The cost of hiring a tree planting service may well offset the risk.

The Advantages of Using One of the Best Tree Planting Services

There are many great reasons to plant a tree on your property, including aesthetics and economic savings. Trees increase property value and boost curb appeal, and can decrease energy costs by creating shade and deflecting wind. Trees also reduce air pollution and improve air quality, not to mention provide sanctuary for wildlife. When it comes to lasting benefits of planting trees, improvements to mental and physical health are also significant. According to the U.S. Department of Environmental Conservation, spending time around trees boosts the immune system, lowers stress and blood pressure, boosts moods, accelerates recovery from surgery and illness, increases energy and improves sleep, and even increases the ability to focus, including in children with ADHD.

With all of these benefits, there are several advantages to using a reputable tree planting service.

• Ensure the right tree is planted in the right place.
• Create a maintenance plan to improve tree longevity.
• Avoid costly damage to property and people.
• Save bodily damage from heavy lifting.

FAQs

Whether it’s a forest or a single sapling, there are plenty of common questions when it comes to finding the best tree planting services. Here are a few of the most asked.

Q: How do I know which native trees are best for my yard?

Native tree planting services are typically part of any tree care company’s offerings, so a qualified tree planting service can help decide which trees are best.

Q: How much does it cost to plant a tree on average?

The average cost to plant a tree ranges from $150 to $3000, depending on the size of the tree.

Q: What are the benefits of planting trees in my yard?

Planting trees has many benefits, including improving air quality, reducing energy bills by blocking wind and creating shade, and improving mental and physical health. Planting trees will also improve the value of your home.

Q: Do I need authorization from my city to plant a tree on my property?

Often, you won’t need a permit to plant a privacy tree on your property, but you may need a permit to prune its branches if they encroach on your neighbor’s yard. It’s always best to check with your municipality and double-check property lines before planting a tree.

Q: In what month should I plant trees?

For most states, the fall is the best time to plant trees, when temperatures cool but aren’t consistently low. This is often September or October. However, the USDA climate zone you live in can affect the best month to plant trees. Some trees such as birch, dogwood, willow, and magnolia need more time to establish before winter, so they should be planted in the spring.

Q: Will planting trees increase my property value?

Yes, many recent studies have shown that adding trees to your yard can increase property value by anywhere from 7 to 19 percent.

Sources: HGTV