2.4.0.6 Html 7 96 1 false 0 0 false 3 false false R1.htm 0001000 - Document - Document and Entity Information Document Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/DocumentAndEntityInformationDocument Document and Entity Information Document true false R2.htm 1001000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/CondensedConsolidatedBalanceSheets Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets false false R3.htm 1001001 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/CondensedConsolidatedBalanceSheetsParenthetical Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) false false R4.htm 1002000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/CondensedConsolidatedStatementsOfOperations Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations false false R5.htm 1003000 - Statement - Condensed Statements of Comprehensive Income Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/CondensedStatementsOfComprehensiveIncome Condensed Statements of Comprehensive Income false false R6.htm 1004000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/CondensedConsolidatedStatementsOfCashFlow Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow false false R7.htm 2101100 - Disclosure - Basis of Financial Statement Preparation Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/BasisOfFinancialStatementPreparation Basis of Financial Statement Preparation false false R8.htm 2104100 - Disclosure - Seasonality of Business Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/SeasonalityOfBusiness Seasonality of Business false false R9.htm 2107100 - Disclosure - Accounts Receivable, Net and Supplemental Balance-Sheet Information Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/AccountsReceivableNetAndSupplementalBalanceSheetInformation Accounts Receivable, Net and Supplemental Balance-Sheet Information false false R10.htm 2110100 - Disclosure - Identified Intangible Assets and Goodwill, Net Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/IdentifiedIntangibleAssetsAndGoodwillNet Identified Intangible Assets and Goodwill, Net false false R11.htm 2113100 - Disclosure - Long-Term Debt Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/LongTermDebt Long-Term Debt false false R12.htm 2116100 - Disclosure - Stock-Based Compensation Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/StockBasedCompensation Stock-Based Compensation false false R13.htm 2119100 - Disclosure - Net Periodic Benefit Cost - Defined Benefit Pension Plans Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/NetPeriodicBenefitCostDefinedBenefitPensionPlans Net Periodic Benefit Cost - Defined Benefit Pension Plans false false R14.htm 2122100 - Disclosure - Income Taxes Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/IncomeTaxes Income Taxes false false R15.htm 2125100 - Disclosure - Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLoss Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) false false R16.htm 2128100 - Disclosure - Per Share Amounts and Common Shares Outstanding Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/PerShareAmountsAndCommonSharesOutstanding Per Share Amounts and Common Shares Outstanding false false R17.htm 2131100 - Disclosure - Operations by Business Segment Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/OperationsByBusinessSegment Operations by Business Segment false false R18.htm 2134100 - Disclosure - Fair Value Measurements and Financial Instruments Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/FairValueMeasurementsAndFinancialInstruments Fair Value Measurements and Financial Instruments false false R19.htm 2137100 - Disclosure - Contingencies Sheet http://www.davey.com/role/Contingencies Contingencies false false All Reports Book All Reports Process Flow-Through: 1001000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Apr. 02, 2011' Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2010' Process Flow-Through: 1001001 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) Process Flow-Through: 1002000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Process Flow-Through: 1003000 - Statement - Condensed Statements of Comprehensive Income Process Flow-Through: 1004000 - Statement - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow davey-20120331.xml davey-20120331.xsd davey-20120331_cal.xml davey-20120331_def.xml davey-20120331_lab.xml davey-20120331_pre.xml true true