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Aug 21, 2023

Need Trees Trimmed? This Former Navy SEAL At Lake Of The Ozarks Specializes In Restoring Lake Views

As a retired Navy SEAL, Luke Colyer is used to high-leverage situations. In fact, he seems to thrive in them. So when it comes to dropping a giant lakefront elm tree, or precisely trimming limbs 60

As a retired Navy SEAL, Luke Colyer is used to high-leverage situations. In fact, he seems to thrive in them. So when it comes to dropping a giant lakefront elm tree, or precisely trimming limbs 60 feet above the ground to open up someone’s lake view, Luke does it with a grin on his face.

Col-Yer Tree Care LLC is the business Luke and his wife Jenna started 19 years ago when he got out of the Navy. They were in Virginia Beach, right after Hurricane Isabel hit. That storm kept Luke’s fledgling tree service business going for awhile, and he’s never looked back.

Having operated for years throughout Missouri, Luke has been serving the Lake of the Ozarks area since 2016. One of his specialties is in helping lakefront homeowners restore their lake view by carefully trimming just the right branches. He preserves the canopy but re-opens the overgrown view they moved to the Lake to enjoy.

The quality of his work is helping get the word out: this timberbucker takes care of business.

Luke is torn when he talks about his veteran past and his current business, because he doesn’t want it to feel like a free pass. But clients keep telling him how important it is to them. And it's important to him too. “The core values of the Navy are honor, courage, and commitment. I stick to my core values, and I carry that over to the tree service,” he said. “It shows in my workmanship.”

Contact Col-Yer Tree Care for your tree removal, tree trimming, or landscaping needs at 573-528-9362

Not every homeowner has a chainsaw. Even those who do aren’t always up to the task when it comes to tree trimming or removal: after all, a mistake can be catastrophic to health and home. Col-Yer Tree Care can handle any tree removal or trimming needs safely and professionally.

Many calls come from homeowners needing tree removal—whether because a tree has died or it just needs to go. Others are from lakefront homeowners wanting what Luke calls “trim to view” or “elevating,” a select trimming process that removes the middle canopy, opening up a homeowner’s view of the Lake of the Ozarks, while still caring for the tree and leaving a nicely shaded yard. As an arborist, Luke isn’t giving a tree a hack-job: he knows how to maintain its health while trimming to meet the property owner’s needs too.

Another major difference with Col-Yer Tree Care is not just how the trees look, but how the yard looks, when the job is done. “I pride myself in cleaning up,” Luke said. “You’re going to get what you pay for, and we clean up well. Attention to detail: that’s one thing… anybody can make a mess, but the art is in cleaning up!”

Col-Yer Tree Care is also a full-service landscaping company. That means whether it’s an existing landscape that needs to be rejuvenated or an area of the yard that’s never been landscaped before, Luke can work with the homeowner from design to project completion.

A recent job at a 7,000-square-foot Lake home involves re-landscaping an area that had been mulched, but never had landscape fabric laid, so weeds were growing through. “There’s no job too small or too big that I can’t take care of,” he said.

From installing mature trees to rock and landscape pavers, Luke says “the sky’s the limit.”

And from a guy who spends lots of time sky-high in a treetop, that’s saying something.

Contact Col-Yer Tree Care for your tree removal, tree trimming, or landscaping needs at 573-528-9362

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