Living on the north side of a hill in the Pacific Northwest is, well, a dim affair. Connie and I are thankful for the lush hillside that makes up much of the boundary of our house here in Columbia City. It is, however, chalk full of invasive English Ivy and weed-like big leaf maple that sprout like mad and block light for everything else -- including us. Our tiny garden and our often short-lived summer weather needed a boost so the weed maples had to go. Who did we call?

Major Tree! Well, a few places but this guy came by recommendation and was awesome. He did a fantastic job, had good advice, wasn't afraid to use poison (seriously, it's hard to find someone willing to even selectively kill leftover invasive tree stumps this way!), and was the lowest bid. For any fans of Mad Men out there think Roger Sterling but as an arborist with a tiny (but mighty!) chainsaw.

Mr. Major and his single helper removed all the trees, chipped them up, and left a handful of logs we could use as simple terraces to re-plant more native replacements on the steep hillside. Check out the before and after photos and if you need a tree guy in the Seattle area, we highly recommend him.