We are also available for emergency callout to deal with any potentially dangerous situations in Hertfordshire and Essex as quickly as possible. If this is the case we will put safety first and prioritise urgent work in order to ensure the welfare of the tree and the surrounding environment. As with all estimates there is no callout charge. Please inform us if your situation is urgent and should you accept our estimate we may be able to deal with the problem immediately.
We undertake a lot of annual hedge work jobs for regular customers. As well as the annual trim in the summer months we can also perform large reductions on tall hedges so they are easily maintainable by their owners in the future years, potentially saving money in the long term. Depending on the hedge it may be preferable to avoid nesting season as nests in some hedges can be very difficult to locate prior to work being commenced.
Coppicing is usually a woodland management technique but is also used occasionally in more domestic settings .
Coppicing is the repeated cutting of a tree down to near ground level on a regular cycle and allowed to regrow. The stump is referred to as a coppice stool and is a method of producing straight poles that can be used to make appropriate products or as method of growing wood for logs on a sustainable basis. The result is a multi-stemmed tree and like pollarding, once a coppice is initiated it muct be continued to managed in this way. The stems if allowed to become too large and heavy they will eventually fail and split away from the stump known as the ‘coppice stool’.
Coppicing is usually carried out in the winter months. Coppicing in early spring when the buds are starting to show, or after the leaves have started to appear, is detrimental to the trees health
Pollarding is useful with trees that have numerous branches arising from the same height on the trunk. Pollarding is carried out initially when a tree is young but after it has become established and has a stem diameter of between 1″ and 2″ at the desired height.
Pollarding is a method of maintaining trees at a certain height and allowing a more formal appearance. Pollarding has been used historically to mark boundaries as well as a method of feeding cattle. Fresh growth was able to be grown out of reach of the animals and then cut down providing fresh leaves for animal feed.
Once pollarding is begun ongoing management will be needed and will be preferable to re-pollard. This is because the stems that re-grow will always have relatively weak unions with the main stem. While they are small this is not a problem, but if allowed to grow sufficiently they will eventually become heavier prone to splitting.
Pollarding is usually carried out in the winter months. Pollarding in early spring when the buds are starting to show, or after the leaves have started to appear, is detrimental to the trees health.
Where there is insufficient space to fell a tree in one go, or where there are obstacles that can not be removed then a tree can be removed by dismantling section by section.
If it is not possible to drop sections from the tree and simply allow them to fall, they can be roped down by means in a controlled manner. Ropes and lowering devices are used when sections are heavy and where extra control is necessary.
Where the space allows a tree may be felled in one go as opposed to being dismantled. A directional wedge shaped cut is made at the base of the trunk and the tree is allowed to fall. This may be required due to disease or future development on the land for other purposes.
Sometimes we may remove some branches to correctly weight the tree. For example; removing a large branch on the opposite side of the intended direction of fall. Where necessary, a pulling rope or winch can be employed to assure the tree falls in the necessary direction, particularly for larger heavier trees. Trees can be felled at any time of the year but care should be taken during nesting season.
It is your choice whether we remove the debris from site, or if you prefer, you can be left with the logs for wood fuel use or wood chip for garden mulch.
Some trees are more difficult to fell and as such need to be removed using sectional dismantling.
This involves removing the lower branches of the tree, usually because they have started to become impractical when the branches have started to overhand roofs, interfere with the guttering, impeding vehicle access or simply get in the way when mowing the lawn. This can be carried out at any time of the year as most crown raises do not involve removing a substantial portion of the tree.
Deadwooding is necessary if the tree is in an area where the risk of falling branches is a potential problem. The removal of crossing branches always decreases the chance of disease occurring within the crown of the tree. Deadwooding can be done at any time of year.
This is something usually carried out upon a mature tree in when the customer is happy with the size and shape of the tree but feels that the canopy is in need of thinning. This involves a climber cutting and removing secondary, crossing and dead or dangerous branches from inside the tree. This allows the wind to pass through the crown and a reduces the risk of branch failure. It also allows for a greater amount of light to pass through the canopy which is what many clients are looking for.
Crown thinning can be carried out at anytime of year. It is preferable to avoid early spring, just before budding and during flowering, or in early autumn, before the leaves fall, especially if it is a relatively heavy crown thin.
Crown thinning on a tree is different from Crown reduction in the the height of the tree is usually kept the same but branches are removed to thin the tree. This has the benefit of better health for the tree, less risk of disease and allows more light through tree into a garden or property.
This is useful when a customer wants to keep the tree long term but it has become too big for its environment. The canopy of the tree may be overgrowing onto a building, neighbours property or public highway. We would usually recommend a reduction of the whole canopy by no more than a third but sometimes more, depending on the degree of the problem.
Sometimes it is not necessary to reduce the height of a tree and Crown Thinning maybe a better solution. Some people decide to reduce the crown (height) of a tree but often thinning makes for a suitable alternative.