As skilled tree surgeons, The Tree People are able to advise how best to care for your tree, determining what type of pruning is necessary to maintain or improve the health, appearance and safety of trees. This may include any of the work described on this page.
We have over 25 years experience in arboriculture and all our staff are NPTC qualified - (National Proficiency Test Council).
Tree pruning work may be required to repair damage or remove dangerous branches, to balance, lighten or improve the shape of the crown, or to provide clearance. Whatever the reason, the object should be to overcome a particular problem with the minimum of pruning whilst retaining as natural a shape as possible.
Crown thinning is designed to lighten the crown to allow more light to penetrate and to leave an even, well-balanced branch structure. It involves the removal of weak, thin and crossing branches and as many secondary branches as necessary to achieve the desired level of thinning. This is usually expressed as a percentage of the overall crown. Normally a 25%-30% thinning is regarded as the maximum amount acceptable.
Crown lifting involves the removal of lower branches to provide a desired amount of clearance above ground level. This can be achieved either by the removal of the whole branch or only those parts which extend below the desired height.
Crown reduction is a method of reshaping the crown of a tree to make it smaller by cutting back all branches to a suitable side bud or fork. It is a technique best used on broad crowned trees but it is not suitable for some (e.g. beech and birch) which tend to die-back from the cuts. Reduction needs to be carried out with care and is not recommended as a regular treatment.
Pollarding otherwise known as topping or lopping involves removing the whole branch structure to leave only the main trunk. It is regarded as bad practice and will rarely be acceptable. With many species the resultant vigorous regrowth will form a dense crown creating more problems. It is sometimes possible by selective pruning of the polewood to create a new crown at a future date rather than to repeat the pollarding.
Cleaning out sometimes described as 'dead wooding' involves the removal of all dead, dying and obviously diseased or dangerous branches and stumps, together with unwanted climbing plants.
Major tree surgery should only be undertaken by suitably qualified contractors, both for reasons of safety and to avoid irreparable damage to trees. All work should be carried out in accordance with the appropriate British Standard 'Recommendations for Tree Work' BS 3998:1989.
Do not be tempted to employ casual contractors who call at your house offering to do work on your tree. An apparent 'cheap job' may result in considerable expense at a later date.