Smith Tree & Landscape Service has longtime roots in the greater Lansing area

Ted and Jane Smith began Smith Tree & Landscape in 1945 as Smith Tree Service. After graduating from Michigan Agriculture College (now Michigan State University) with a degree in forestry, Edwin (Ted) Smith, took a job with the City of Lansing Forestry Department.  During that time, Lansing was losing many of its statuesque American elm trees to Dutch Elm Disease.  Seeing an opportunity to do contract work to remove the many dying American elm trees, he started Smith Tree Service. In addition to removing the dying elms, Smith Tree Service specialized in clearing trees from telephone and power lines.

As the business began to expand in the 1950's, Ted Smith and his wife, Jane family bought a 60-acre parcel off of West Grand River Avenue, built a home and set up their business operation. They raised three children, Lois, Thomas and Chris.

Smith Tree Service changed its name to Smith Tree and Landscape Service Inc. when Ted's wife, Jane L. Smith became the first woman in Michigan to become a registered landscape architect.  In the early 1950s, Jane enrolled at Michigan State to study landscape architecture.  Landscape was added to the company name and Smith Tree and Landscape took advantage of the post war building boom and introduced professional landscape design and construction to the Greater Lansing area.

As the landscape business grew, the Smith's began planting a nursery on their property so they could supply their landscape customers with locally grown plant material.

The oldest Smith son, Thomas Denny Smith, began studying Arboriculture at the University of Massachusetts. Returning in 1965, he started the scientific application of tree preservation techniques, further expanding the company’s service offerings. Tom would later become President and served in that capacity until a deer hunting accident left him paralyzed in 1988.

The youngest Smith son, Chris, began working in the company after his graduation from Michigan State University with a business degree, assuming responsibility for all arboricultural sales and operations.  When the International Society of Arboriculture began certification, Chris became the 4th certified arborist in the state of Michigan. He assumed the title of President after Tom stepped down due to his injury.
With the proximity of Michigan State, Smith Tree and Landscape attracted top talent in both the arboriculture and landscape fields.  Many MSU students got their feet wet in the industry working at Smith Tree and Landscape Service, Inc. 

Stephen Woods joined the firm in 1997 after graduation from the University of Southern Illinois and a brief stint on fire crews in Utah. In 2002 he was named Vice President and became the first non-family stockholder. Stephen is one of only approximately 300 Board Certified Master Arborists in the United States.

Now in its sixth decade, Smith Tree & Landscape Service continues to provide a full range of services in Tree Care, Landscape Design and Construction and Lawn Care throughout the Greater Lansing Area.