Maintaining the life of your trees is our number one goal. Our expert team of arborists and tree surgeons assess each tree, its health and location, and decide the best course of action. That could be cutting, felling or a plan for long-term maintenance – we will always aim to extend the life of a tree rather than removing it.
For over 30 years we have worked with local authorities, schools, housing associations, private estates, construction companies and private residential clients. We are fully accredited and insured as well as recognised by Trustmark for our good trading practices, good customer service and technical competence. You can check out our full list of accreditation and certifications at the bottom of the page.
Because we have a wide range of machinery, tools and expertise in our team, we can offer a wide range of arboricultural services. These include:
Tree Pruning
The best way to looking after the health and appearance of your trees.
There are several different methods of tree pruning:
Crown Reduction – reducing the overall tree’s crown height and/or spread but keeping the tree’s natural shape and structure. The framework of the crown remains intact, and the overall shape remains similar. A great way to manage tree growth in built up areas so trees complement the surroundings rather than take over.
Crown Thinning – we remove a small amount of branches from the crown to achieve an even foliage density and a well-balanced structure. Thinning allows more light to pass through the crown and to reduce wind resistance, making the tree stronger. The overall size or shape of the tree isn’t changed.
Crown Lifting – also called crown raising, we remove the lowest branches of the tree to make space beneath. This allows vehicles and people to pass by safely without worry of harm to them or the tree. Crown lifting also increases light to areas close to the tree. We restrict the amount we lift to less than 15% of the live crown height, leaving the crown at least 2/3 of the tree’s total height.
Pollarding – a technique where we cut a tree’s upper branches back to its main stem or trunk. It might look brutal but it manages tree size and encourages new growth, keeping the tree healthy and suitable for its surroundings.
As well as pruning, there are several other tree maintenance methods we use:
Deadwooding
Part or complete removal of non-living branches or stems. Dead or decaying wood can be at risk of falling and causing damage, so it is important to have deadwood removed. But as it also provides valuable habitats for wildlife, shortening the dead branches or removing large deadwood should be considered, depending on the risk.
Bracing
We install cables, ropes and/or belts to restrain and support trees at risk of damage due to failure. This is a good alternative to removing a damaged tree that has historic interest or value, has a major structural weakness, or is in danger from storm or weather damage.
Felling
If the only option is to remove a tree, it must be undertaken safely and by professionals. We can do this safely whilst also removing the tree for wood recycling and repurposing.
Stump Grinding
After a tree has been felled, we use a machine to grind the stump area to below ground level. This minimises the trip hazard and allows replanting or construction work. We have stump grinders to tackle stumps of any size.
Veteran and ancient tree management
We are lucky enough to have some extremely old trees in the South East – the oldest is the Crowhurst Yew in Surrey, believed to be about 4000 years old. It’s not always possible to tell a very old tree’s age because many have hollow trunks as they age, making it impossible to count the rings. As you can imagine, veteran and ancient trees require specialist care and management. If you know you have one on your land, or believe one of your trees to be particularly old, please contact us and we’ll be happy to advise.
Tree planting and young tree maintenance
As well as looking after and extending the life of established trees, we plant new trees and look after their early years’ growth. This gives them the best start and opportunity to grow into strong healthy trees for future generations. We follow British Standard guidelines (BS 8545:2014) which covers the planning, design, production, planting and management of young trees. This is a service we undertake for many of our clients.
Call us on 01342 719567 or contact us to find out more about any aspect of tree surgery, maintenance, felling or pruning. Our expert team is on hand to help!