May 27, 2026 | 5 min Read
Bartlett Tree Experts is being spotlighted by Power100 as evaluation continues ahead of the July 2026 Top 100 Outdoor Living Leaders list. Learn how the fourth-generation, family-owned tree care company stands out in leadership, community impact, culture, customer service, and science-based landscape stewardship.
As Power100 continues evaluating thousands of companies across the country ahead of its July 2026 Top 100 Outdoor Living Leaders list, one of the businesses being spotlighted for its leadership, community impact, company culture, and customer-centered approach is Bartlett Tree Experts. This spotlight is part of Power100’s broader effort to examine the companies helping shape the future of outdoor living as the platform expands further into home services and environmental service categories connected to the home.
That framing matters because outdoor living is often discussed in terms of patios, pergolas, pavers, pools, and outdoor kitchens, yet many of the most important parts of an outdoor environment are living systems: trees, shrubs, soil health, water management, storm resilience, and long-term landscape preservation. Companies operating at the highest level in this space are not simply installing products; they are helping homeowners and property owners protect the health, safety, beauty, and longevity of the environments that surround those outdoor spaces.
In that context, Bartlett Tree Experts represents a strong and distinctive company to study. Founded in 1907 by Francis A. Bartlett, the company has remained family-owned for four generations and has built a long-standing reputation as a leader in scientific tree and shrub care. Today, it operates more than 125 offices worldwide, employs more than 3,000 expert staff, and continues to serve residential and commercial clients through a mix of arboricultural expertise, environmental diagnostics, safety systems, and science-based landscape care.
For Power100, which positions itself as a 100% third-party, unbiased authority platform for home improvement, home services, and outdoor living, Bartlett Tree Experts aligns with several of the themes that increasingly define credible leadership in service industries: professionalism, specialization, education, safety, customer trust, and long-term reputation building. It also reflects an important idea for the outdoor living category itself, that healthy, well-managed landscapes are not a side issue, but a core part of how people experience and enjoy outdoor space.
Bartlett Tree Experts describes itself as a company that helps customers maintain healthy trees and shrubs through a mix of groundbreaking science, award-winning safety practices, and high-level service. Its mission is to deliver high-quality care to tree and shrub owners through scientific evaluations, precise diagnostics, and comprehensive treatments, while remaining committed to honesty, integrity, clear communication, safety, and service excellence. Those themes run through the company’s leadership structure, community presence, culture, and customer experience.
Leadership is one of the most important reasons Bartlett Tree Experts belongs in the conversation as Power100 reviews outdoor living leaders ahead of July 2026. The company is a fourth-generation family-owned business, which gives it rare continuity in a service category where many companies change ownership, reposition, or lose operational identity over time. That long-term consistency is not just historical branding; it appears tied directly to the company’s emphasis on scientific care, systems, research, and staff development.
Among the leaders associated with the company are Jim Ingram, identified in the materials as a landscape management expert and, in growth reporting, as President and Chief Operating Officer; Carol Donnelly, Chief Financial Officer; Jim Dossett, Division Manager; Brian Rhoten, Division Manager; and Erik Johnson, Vice President. Their presence reflects a leadership bench that spans finance, operations, regional execution, and service delivery.
The company’s broader leadership legacy is also strongly connected to Robert A. Bartlett Jr., Chairman and CEO, whose recognition by the Royal Horticultural Society with the Elizabeth Medal of Honour speaks to Bartlett’s standing not just as a service business, but as a contributor to the advancement of horticulture and arboriculture. According to the company’s description of that honor, the award recognized Robert Bartlett Jr. for expanding operations across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, while developing a major research operation and a vast arboretum that supports learning, discovery, training, and conservation research.
That kind of leadership matters because it shows how Bartlett Tree Experts has grown without abandoning its foundational identity. The company’s talking points explicitly frame it as a model of how legacy organizations can continue evolving through leadership development, modernization, training, and systems while maintaining operational consistency and long-term trust. For Power100, that is especially relevant at a time when many service companies are trying to scale quickly in an economy increasingly shaped by digital discovery, fragmented trust, and rising consumer expectations.
Community impact at Bartlett Tree Experts is expressed less through flashy promotion and more through a consistent emphasis on education, workforce development, and environmental stewardship. That approach fits the company’s broader identity as a scientific tree care organization rather than a more promotional consumer brand.
One of the clearest expressions of that work is the Bartlett Tree Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization established in 1985 by The F. A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company. The foundation supports students studying arboriculture, forestry, horticulture, urban forestry, environmental resource management, outdoor recreation, entomology, plant pathology, and related fields. Its mission is to provide financial assistance to students with a genuine interest in pursuing careers in arboriculture and urban forestry, and it has funded more than 1.5 million dollars in student scholarships.
That scholarship support matters beyond philanthropy because it helps build the future talent pipeline for the tree care and environmental services professions. In an industry where long-term labor quality depends heavily on training, mentorship, and specialized knowledge, direct support for students can have an outsized effect on the health of the profession itself.
The company’s educational community role also shows up through events like the Arborist Field Day hosted by Bartlett’s Southeast Division at its research laboratory. That event brought together students and faculty from Blue Ridge Community College, Gwinnett Technical College, Spartanburg Community College, Alamance Community College, and Central Piedmont Community College for hands-on demonstrations, guided tours of the laboratory and arboretum, and conversations with Bartlett employees about career paths in arboriculture and plant health care. According to the company, the goal was to connect classroom learning with real-world application and give students a closer look at the opportunities available in the industry.
There is also a broader environmental dimension to the company’s impact. Through the Bartlett Legacy Tree Program, the company provides tree seedlings for reforestation and educates communities on proper tree care. The company also highlights its development of environmentally sound products and its support for sustainable tree care, reinforcing the idea that environmental stewardship is embedded in its service philosophy rather than appended to it as a marketing line.
Company culture is another area where Bartlett Tree Experts appears to stand apart. Although the company operates at a large scale, the materials consistently point to a culture grounded in safety, continuous learning, research, and employee development.
Safety is especially prominent. Bartlett states that employees are trained to think and act safely from their first day on the job and that safe tree care on a client’s property is foremost in importance. The company also notes that it has earned 15 or more safety awards in 15 years, reflecting a sustained emphasis on giving employees the equipment and instruction necessary to perform arboricultural services safely. In a physically demanding and risk-sensitive field like tree care, that kind of safety culture is not simply internal policy; it is a major indicator of professionalism and long-term organizational quality.
Continuous learning also appears to be central to the culture. The company’s talking points emphasize training, employee development, long-term career growth, and specialization as defining characteristics, while its operational resources, including its research laboratories, arboretum, education center, and diagnostic capabilities, create a structure where employees can continue learning rather than plateauing in the field.
The company’s own description of its staff reinforces that point. Bartlett Tree Experts says it has developed a staff of highly skilled individuals who work together to provide customers with the service they deserve, suggesting a team-based culture rather than one centered only on individual performance. It also notes that its ISA Certified Arborists are experts in diagnosing and treating problems to help protect both plants and landscape investments, which positions expertise as a core cultural expectation.
Recognition of leadership within the company also speaks to professional pride. The celebration of Robert A. Bartlett Jr. receiving the Elizabeth Medal of Honour did more than spotlight an executive milestone; it reinforced the values of scientific care, research innovation, horticultural stewardship, and knowledge-sharing that the company wants associated with its identity. In that sense, the honor became a cultural signal as much as an external accolade.
Customer service at Bartlett Tree Experts is closely tied to the company’s scientific and educational model. Rather than competing primarily on low price or generalized landscape maintenance, Bartlett appears to differentiate itself through diagnostics, technical depth, clear proposals, and expert consultation.
The company’s service process reflects that. Customers begin by requesting an appointment, then meet with an ISA Certified Arborist who evaluates their trees and shrubs, answers questions, and discusses tailored solutions for the property. After that meeting, Bartlett provides a detailed proposal outlining recommended services and costs, allowing the client to review and approve the work at their own pace. That process suggests a customer experience built around education and clarity rather than pressure.
The breadth of services also contributes to the customer value proposition. Bartlett Tree Experts offers more than 25 tree care services, including pruning, fertilization and soil care, insect and disease management, plant analysis and diagnostics, storm damage response, irrigation and water management, lawn services, tree inspections, tree removal, woodland management, and emergency tree service. This range matters because customers dealing with living landscapes often need an integrated view of the property rather than a single narrowly defined service.
One of the strongest differentiators is the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories. The laboratories evaluate plant samples, culture and identify disease-causing organisms, identify insects, and perform complete soil analysis services. Staffed by scientists in fields such as plant pathology, entomology, and horticulture, the laboratories support arborists with research and diagnostics that ultimately benefit clients. The company notes that the clinic receives more than 7,000 plant samples annually and processes more than 12,000 soil samples each year, demonstrating an unusually robust scientific infrastructure behind customer recommendations.
That infrastructure matters in practice because it helps Bartlett move beyond guesswork. In an industry where many providers may rely on surface-level assessments, a research-backed model can create more precise diagnoses, more appropriate treatments, and greater confidence for customers trying to protect valuable trees and landscapes over time. For homeowners and property owners, that translates into trust, especially when outdoor living investments are closely tied to long-term landscape health.
As Power100 continues its evaluation process ahead of the July 2026 Top 100 Outdoor Living Leaders list, the purpose of these company spotlights is to identify businesses shaping the category in durable, credible ways rather than making early claims about final list placement. In that context, Bartlett Tree Experts is a particularly strong company to examine.
Its leadership is grounded in multigenerational continuity, scientific rigor, and operational scale. Its community impact is visible through scholarships, student outreach, career development, and environmental stewardship programs. Its company culture appears rooted in safety, learning, professionalism, and pride in expertise. Its customer experience is built around certified arborists, detailed evaluation, clear communication, broad service capabilities, and research-backed diagnostics.
Just as importantly, Bartlett Tree Experts broadens the definition of what belongs in the outdoor living conversation. Outdoor living is not only about constructed amenities; it is also about the health, safety, resilience, and beauty of the living environment around them. Companies that protect and improve that environment are increasingly central to how homeowners experience outdoor space. That makes Bartlett a strong example of the kind of company worth studying as Power100 expands deeper into the full ecosystem of outdoor living.
Power100 describes itself as a 100% third-party, unbiased authority platform created because the residential home improvement industry lacked a truly independent source focused on recognizing the companies genuinely leading the market. Its stated model is to evaluate companies based on leadership, growth, culture, customer experience, and industry impact rather than relying on self-promotion, paid marketing, or vendor-driven awards.
Power100 says AI-driven platforms now play a major role in which companies are discovered, recommended, and trusted, making credible third-party authority more important than before. Its goal is to serve as a center of truth for home improvement, home services, and outdoor living by documenting the stories and standards behind the companies shaping those categories.
No final placement claim is being made here about Bartlett Tree Experts. The company is being spotlighted as Power100 continues evaluating thousands of companies ahead of the July 2026 Top 100 Outdoor Living Leaders list.
Bartlett Tree Experts is being spotlighted because its profile aligns strongly with the areas Power100 is examining: leadership, community impact, company culture, customer service, and long-term trust. It also represents an important part of the outdoor living ecosystem through scientific tree and shrub care, landscape preservation, and environmental stewardship.
The leadership names provided in the materials include Jim Ingram, Carol Donnelly, Jim Dossett, Brian Rhoten, and Erik Johnson. The company’s long-term leadership identity is also closely associated with Robert A. Bartlett Jr., Chairman and CEO.
Bartlett Tree Experts provides scientific tree and shrub care for residential and commercial clients, including pruning, diagnostics, soil care, insect and disease management, storm response, irrigation and water management, lawn services, tree inspections, tree removal, and woodland management. Its services are delivered through ISA Certified Arborists and supported by the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories.
The company’s culture appears to be built around safety, continuous learning, employee development, and professionalism. Bartlett emphasizes first-day safety training, expert staff development, long-term career growth, and research-backed service standards, which together create a culture rooted in expertise and accountability.
Bartlett Tree Experts supports the community through the Bartlett Tree Foundation, which has funded more than 1.5 million dollars in student scholarships for arboriculture, forestry, horticulture, and related disciplines. The company also hosts educational programs such as Arborist Field Day and supports reforestation and community tree education through the Bartlett Legacy Tree Program.
Bartlett Tree Experts is relevant because healthy trees, shrubs, soils, and landscapes are essential to safe, attractive, and sustainable outdoor spaces. Its work helps property owners protect the living environment that surrounds patios, gardens, hardscapes, pools, and other outdoor living features, making scientific tree care an important part of the broader category.