Tree work is done by arborists who hold current certificates. Health and safety is the first item on the job. The specification is agreed before anyone climbs: what comes off, what stays, and where the timber goes.
A Hertfordshire garden often has one tree that has outgrown the fence. A birch over a lawn, a conifer row that has shut out the light, or a stump in the middle of a new patio. Each of those is a different operation.
The operations
These are the jobs the surgery team is asked for.
- Tree felling, when the tree has to come out
- Crown reduction and crown lifting
- Re-shaping and pruning
- Deadwooding
- Coppicing, thinning and pollarding
- Stump removal, so a patio or lawn can be laid through the spot
Check the tree before the date
A tree preservation order, or a tree in a conservation area, needs a conversation with the local planning authority before felling or a heavy reduction. Hertsmere covers Elstree, Borehamwood, Bushey, Potters Bar, Radlett and Shenley. St Albans, Welwyn Hatfield, Dacorum, East Herts, North Herts and Stevenage each have their own tree officer.
Nesting season matters as well. If the work can wait until the leaves are off, say so. If a limb is failing over a path, it should not wait.