Tree surgery questions answered

Call us on 07459 569 716, message us on WhatsApp, email us, or fill in the quote form. Tell us what needs doing and where, and we’ll arrange a visit to see the job and quote.

No. We come out, see the job and quote for free.

We’re based at 117 Elliott Street, Preston, and work across Preston, Lancashire and the wider North West. If you’re not sure whether you’re in our area, give us a call.

The type of work you’re after, roughly how big the tree or hedge is, where it is on the property, and anything that affects access, such as a narrow side passage, steps or parked cars. Photos are welcome, but we always come out and see the job before we quote.

Yes. We carry £2 million public liability insurance.

Our team is trained through LANTRA, the land-based industry’s training body, and holds City & Guilds NPTC qualifications for chainsaw and tree work. We’re also CBRB verified (2023). You can see the badges on our About page.

Between us, the team has over 17 years’ combined experience of tree surgery.

Tree work is skilled and risky. Before anyone climbs a tree in your garden, check they carry public liability insurance, that they’re trained for chainsaw and tree work, and that they’ll tell you if the work needs the council’s permission.

Usually not. You need the council’s consent first if the tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or stands in a conservation area. In Preston, that’s Preston City Council. If you’re not sure, mention it when you ask for a quote.

A TPO is an order made by the local council to protect a particular tree, group of trees or woodland. Cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilfully damaging a protected tree without the council’s consent is an offence. You can ask the council whether a tree is protected.

Dead or dangerous trees are generally exempt from tree preservation consent, but it’s still sensible to tell the council before work starts and to keep photos of the problem.

Trees in private gardens don’t need a felling licence. A licence from the Forestry Commission can be needed when larger amounts of timber are felled elsewhere, such as in fields or woodland.

Active birds’ nests are protected by law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Work in spring and summer needs a check for nests first, and heavier hedge cutting is best planned outside the main nesting season, March to August.

In general, you can cut overhanging branches back to the boundary line, but no further, and you shouldn’t go onto your neighbour’s land to do it without their permission. Check first that the tree isn’t protected by a TPO or in a conservation area, and it’s worth talking to your neighbour beforehand. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

In open ground a tree can sometimes be dropped in one piece. In most Preston gardens it’s taken down in sections from the top and lowered under control, keeping houses, fences and borders safe.

A crown reduction shortens branches around the outside of the crown, bringing a tree’s height and spread down while keeping its natural shape. Crown thinning leaves the size alone and removes selected inner branches, usually no more than 30% of the foliage, so light and air pass through. Good practice for both is set out in BS 3998, the British Standard for tree work.

Only so far. Conifers such as leylandii won’t regrow from bare brown wood, so a hedge that’s cut back past its green growth can be left with permanent bare patches. We take care to keep cuts within what the hedge can recover from.

It can be ground out. A stump grinder uses a rotating cutting wheel to chip the stump away below ground level, without the large hole left by digging it out. The remaining roots break down naturally, and the area can then be levelled, turfed or replanted. See stump grinding.

Keep people and pets away from it and don’t try to cut it yourself. Call us on 07459 569 716 and describe what you can see. Warning signs include cracks or splits in the trunk or main branches, fungal brackets at the base, a worsening lean, storm damage, large deadwood and ash dieback.