Guides written by Josh Mullett. Crown work, TPOs and Section 211 notices, what jobs cost and why, and the bits of tree law that catch homeowners out. Every guide carries a direct quote from Josh on the actual work, not a paraphrase.
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Conservation area tree work and TPO applications across Wealden, Rother, Hastings Borough and Ashford Borough. How each council's portal and timing differs, and what we file for you before we put a saw in.
Read the guideUsually yes. It is your tree on your land, so most of the time you can fell it without asking anyone. Check three things first, chiefly whether it carries a TPO or sits in a conservation area.
Read the guideMost garden trees do not need a Forestry Commission felling licence, thanks to a broad set of exemptions. But a TPO or a conservation area can still protect the same tree, which is the thing homeowners actually get caught by.
Read the guideTopping mutilates a tree. Crown reduction reduces it properly. The technical difference, what a good job looks like on the day, and what to say if a tree surgeon offers to top your tree.
Read the guideSeptember to February is the proper window for major hedge work in the UK. Between March and August you're into nesting season and the law. The species rules, what we do if we find a nest mid-cut, and what a good cut actually looks like.
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Both of these bleed or sulk if you cut them at the wrong time, and the wrong time for both is spring. But their right windows are opposite ends of the year: acers in early winter, magnolias in midsummer. Here's why, and how light to go.
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Free-standing apple and pear trees are pruned in winter, while they're dormant. Trained forms get a summer trim as well. Here's the timing, why it matters, and how hard to cut a neglected old apple back.
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There are two camps. Apples and pears get pruned in winter. Plums, cherries and the rest of the stone fruit get pruned in summer, to dodge silver leaf disease. Get that one rule right and the rest follows.
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Ash dieback is going through southern England fast. What the disease is, what it looks like at each stage, why infected ash turns brittle and dangerous, and how we handle the removal.
Read the guideWhat close-board really is, how we build it across East Sussex, and the small spec choices that decide whether the fence lasts fifteen years or five. Treated posts, arris rails, gravel board, capping, the lot.
Read the guideWhat English law actually says about boundaries, overhanging branches, roots, TPOs, hedges and disputes. A plain-English guide from a qualified East Sussex tree surgeon, not a solicitor.
Read the guideTree Preservation Orders and Section 211 notices in plain English. What protects your tree, what you can and can't do without permission, and how I handle the council paperwork on your behalf.
Read the guideCrown reduction isn't one job. It's four different jobs depending on the species in front of you. Here's how a qualified East Sussex tree surgeon handles the four most common ones in our patch.
Read the guideCrown reduction is one-off shaping that keeps the tree's natural form. Pollarding is a long-term cycle on specific species. They look similar on paper and they are very different jobs.
Read the guideThinning opens a tree up without changing its size. Reduction makes the tree smaller. Both legitimate, both BS3998, done for different reasons. A plain guide to which one your tree wants.
Read the guideCrown reduction is the proper way to make a tree smaller without damaging it. Here's what it actually is, what BS3998 says about it, and when you'd want one on a tree in your garden.
Read the guideFill in the quote form or give us a call and we'll come and have a look. No charge for the visit, no hard sell.
