About

Here at Grateful Tree Service, trees are our passion! Helping our clients identify their arboriculture goals and executing the work to achieve those goals brings an incredible amount of job satisfaction and camaraderie to our crew, and it shows in our quality of work and how our clients feel towards the work we perform. Check out our reviews and see what our clients have to say about us!

Grateful Tree Service, LLC was founded in June 2020 by Mark Stuart. Mark served 20 years in the U.S. Military, the first 5 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and finishing with 15 more years in the U.S. Coast Guard. His service included a tour in Iraq, a station in Japan, as well as numerous deployments to South and Central America. His areas of specialized training include Intelligence, Mechanics, Precision Marksmanship, Advanced Tactical Operation, Counter Terrorism, and Chemical\Biological\Nuclear\Hazmat response.

At the end of his military career, Mark developed a passion for tree work, starting with the ~150 year old tree on his property in historic Portsmouth. The physical, challenging, and dangerous nature of tree work felt like love at first climb. Combining the leadership, risk mitigation, and problem solving skills he learned from the military with modern arboriculture practices and permaculture ethics, Grateful Tree Service was born. 

Permaculture ethics?

Yes, Grateful Tree Service believes in permaculture ethics: care of earth, care of people, and return of surplus.

Basically, all that hippie stuff about peace and love is true. We all share this planet and the Grateful Tree Guys want to live and work in a way that makes our community and planet better. Deep down you know it’s true: love really is the answer.

Since Grateful Tree Service was founded, we have NEVER used a landfill for disposal of job materials. We have composted, reused, repurposed, or recycled 100% of our materials from tree jobs. Materials that aren’t directly given away or repurposed are taken to commercial recycling operations where the waste materials are processed into commercial grade mulch, etc.

Need mulch? Go to www.chipdrop.com to sign up to receive chips and or logs delivered for free by local tree companies!

Grateful Tree Service uses 100% canola oil instead of conventional chainsaw bar oil. As a chainsaw runs, the bar is lubricated by oil flowing onto the moving chain. As the chain moves, the bar oil is thrown into the environment while lubricating the chain in a total-loss lubrication system. In other words, 100% of whatever bar oil is used is deposited into the environment. Because of this Grateful Tree Service uses food-grade canola oil to reduce pollution and promote better environmental health of the trees we cut.

Grateful Tree Service also utilizes cutting-edge battery powered electric chainsaws whenever practical to reduce noise and fuel consumption on the job. Not only does this practice reduce our consumption of fuel, it also allows us to start jobs earlier thanks to the reduced noise! To top it all off, Grateful Tree Service will NEVER spike a tree to trim it. We are grateful to share this beautiful planet with so many beautiful souls and majestic trees, and we sincerely hope you feel the same.