Eric Petruska — ISA Member Arborist & Owner
Eric Petruska is the ISA Member Arborist and owner of Tree Service Denver LLC. Since founding the company in 2011, Eric has personally led every major job, assessment, and estimate across the Denver Metro. His credentials, standards, and hands-on involvement are what separate Tree Service Denver LLC from every other crew in the market.
Who Is Eric Petruska?
Eric Petruska is the ISA Member Arborist who leads Tree Service Denver LLC, the Denver tree care company he has built since 2011. ISA membership — issued by the International Society of Arboriculture — requires documented field experience, a proctored exam covering tree biology, diagnosis, pruning, and safety, and ongoing continuing education to maintain. Eric personally performs or reviews the assessment on every job the company takes, from single-tree residential pruning to commercial maintenance contracts across the Denver metro.
About Eric Petruska
Eric is a member of the International Society of Arboriculture, which publishes the Best Management Practices professional tree crews work to. ISA membership is a professional affiliation — it is not the ISA Certified Arborist credential, which is a separate exam-based qualification. Every pruning cut, removal decision, and health assessment Eric makes follows ANSI A300 industry standards, backed by fifteen years of Front Range field experience.
Eric holds EHAP certification (Electrical Hazards Awareness Program), covering safe work practices near energized electrical infrastructure. Most tree companies in Denver send crews near power lines without this credential. EHAP certification means Eric and his crews have formal training in identifying electrical hazards, minimum approach distances, and safe rigging near utility infrastructure.
Eric founded Tree Service Denver LLC in 2011 and has led the company as its primary working arborist since day one. Unlike companies where a credentialed arborist reviews jobs from an office while uncertified crews do the work, Eric is on-site or directly supervising every job in the field. When you call Tree Service Denver LLC, you get Eric.
Eric’s 15+ years working exclusively on the Colorado Front Range gives him specific knowledge of Denver’s alkaline clay soils, Chinook wind loading, emerald ash borer spread patterns, iron chlorosis treatment, and the species most common in Denver Metro residential canopies. National tree companies send generalists — Eric brings deep local expertise to every job.
Eric personally handles every estimate across the Denver Metro. His approach is diagnostic — assess the tree honestly, give the homeowner a clear recommendation, and never push unnecessary work. The company’s 5.0-star average across 163 Google reviews reflects this standard more than any credential.
What Eric Specializes In
🌳 Tree Risk Assessment
ISA-standard structural evaluation of trees for failure risk, decay indicators, root compromise, and wind loading — written reports available for insurance or legal purposes.
🌍 Emerald Ash Borer
EAB inspection, canopy loss assessment, systemic treatment eligibility evaluation, and removal planning for infested ash trees throughout the Denver Metro.
☀️ Iron Chlorosis
Diagnosis and deep root fertilization treatment for Denver’s widespread iron chlorosis caused by alkaline clay soils — one of the most under-treated tree health issues in the Metro.
🛡️ Structural Pruning
ANSI A300-standard crown cleaning, thinning, and structural pruning — not just cutting for aesthetics, but shaping for long-term structural integrity and storm resilience.
🔥 Wildfire Mitigation
NFPA 1144-compliant defensible space creation for WUI properties in Golden, Castle Rock, Louisville, and the Front Range foothills. Three-zone approach, written plans available.
📋 Arborist Reports
Written ISA arborist reports for real estate transactions, insurance claims, HOA disputes, permit applications, and legal proceedings involving tree condition or value.
Reviews About Working With Eric
★★★★★
“We hired Tree Service Denver LLC for regular maintenance on our mature trees. The arborist walked us through tree health issues, recommended what to prune, and the results look great. Professional, knowledgeable, and respectful of our yard.”
— Mj Brooks · 8 months ago · Google
★★★★★
“From the first phone call to the final cleanup, Tree Service Denver LLC was a pleasure to work with. They trimmed several mature trees on our property, lifted the canopies away from the roof, and removed deadwood that had been dropping branches for years. The crew was respectful of our landscaping, careful around our f…”
— Anas Hassan · 4 months ago · Google
★★★★★
“Tree Service Denver LLC helped us address a hazardous tree that was starting to lift our sidewalk and threaten our sewer line. Their arborist came out, evaluated the tree, and gave us an honest recommendation that balanced safety, budget, and city requirements. The removal was done safely, they coordinated around our n…”
— Rae Ane · 3 months ago · Google
Eric’s Approach: Diagnose First, Cut Second
Most tree damage in Denver isn’t done by storms — it’s done by bad tree work: topping cuts that force weak regrowth, flush cuts that invite decay, over-thinning that sunburns bark. Eric’s rule is that no saw starts until the tree is understood: species, structure, load, health, and what the customer actually needs. That’s why assessments come first on every job, why the company prunes to ANSI A300 without exception, and why customers regularly hear “this tree doesn’t need to come down” — read the reviews and you’ll see that theme constantly.
Areas of Expertise
Eric’s field history covers the full range of Front Range tree care: hazard evaluation and technical removals in tight urban lots; structural pruning for storm resilience; diagnosis of Colorado-specific stressors like drought cracking, sunscald, chlorosis in our alkaline soils, and emerald ash borer; cabling and bracing to preserve mature trees; and defensible-space work in the wildland-urban interface. Full credential and insurance details are on the credentials page.
The Standard He Holds the Company To
Every crew member works under the same rules Eric works under: Z133 safety practices on every site, honest written estimates, zero-damage rigging around homes and landscaping, and a cleanup standard of “better than we found it.” It’s a small company by design — the name on the website is the person on the job site. Want him to look at your trees? Book a free estimate.
More Questions, Answered
What does ISA-member actually mean?
Will Eric personally work on my trees?
How long has Eric been doing tree work in Denver?
Can I request Eric for a second opinion?
Does certification really matter for tree work?
Fifteen Years of Front Range Trees
Colorado is a hard place to be a tree, and that shapes everything about how Eric works. At altitude, sun intensity scalds thin-barked species; alkaline clay soils lock up iron and leave silver maples chlorotic; freeze-thaw swings crack trunks in February; and upslope storms drop wet spring snow on fully leafed canopies — the single biggest cause of limb failure in the metro. Eric’s assessments are calibrated to exactly these conditions: he knows which failures are cosmetic and which are structural, which stressed trees recover with root-zone treatment and which decline is terminal, and when in the Colorado calendar each species should be pruned. That local calibration is the real product — the saws are just tools.
Eric at a Glance
- Credential: ISA Member Arborist (publicly verifiable with the ISA)
- Role: Founder & lead arborist, Tree Service Denver LLC, since 2011
- Territory: Denver metro exclusively — 20+ cities, every week
- On your job: Performs or reviews the assessment on 100% of jobs
- Standards: ANSI A300 pruning; ANSI Z133 safety; zero-damage guarantee
If you want the shortest version of what hiring him means: the person who decides what gets cut on your property is local, accountable by name, and has spent fifteen years learning exactly how Front Range trees fail — and how to keep yours from it.
Get a Free Estimate from Eric Personally
Eric handles every estimate personally across the Denver Metro. Free written quote, no obligation, no upselling.
