Crown thinning is the quiet one. The tree looks the same size and shape from the lawn, but light gets under it and the wind passes through instead of catching the whole crown like a sail. We work to BS3998, keep the outline, and take out the inner growth that isn't earning its keep.
Crown thinning is the selective removal of secondary branches from inside the canopy, to let more light and wind through without changing the tree's overall size or shape. A properly thinned tree looks like the same tree, just a bit more open. You can see sky through it where before you saw a dense green wall.
It is not a crown reduction. A reduction takes the height and spread down. A thinning leaves those alone and works inside the canopy. Done well to BS3998, we'd take out no more than about 20 to 25% of the live growth in one go. Any more and the tree responds with a flush of vigorous regrowth that undoes the job within two seasons.
We won't lion's tail a tree. Stripping all the inner growth out and leaving tufts on the ends of the limbs looks tidy on day one, but the weight sits at the very tips and the limbs snap in the next gale. A proper thinning is even through the crown, not a strip-and-puff.
If your tree is in a conservation area and over 75mm in diameter at 1.5 metres, you generally need to file a Section 211 notice with the council before any work starts. The council then has six weeks to respond. A TPO'd tree needs a formal application regardless. We file the paperwork with your local council on your behalf, with method, species and reason, and we wait the clock out before we put a saw in.
We price per tree after a site visit. Species, size, access for the chipper and whether the tree is TPO'd all change the number. Mature oaks and beeches take longer than a young sycamore of the same height because the work inside the crown is finer. We'll walk the job with you and put a written quote in front of you within two working days.
See how we price every job, across tree surgery and fencing →
★★★★★“Josh has done a variety of jobs for us on several occasions. This has included helping us to manage a small woodland addressing storm damage, logging, chipping, and tree management generally. Plus a bit of hard landscaping and groundwork too! His work is always first class; tidy, efficient, on time and on budget. We are a return customer. Highly recommended!”
★★★★★“We recently had JM Tree services to carry out work on a large Oak tree and we could not be more pleased with how the work was done and how tidy they left the site when the work was done. We would highly recommend them”
Recent tree surgery jobs that involved crown thinning.
We cover about twenty miles around Heathfield, which takes in Hastings, Battle, Bexhill, Rye and the villages between. Each town page has what the ground and the trees are actually like there.
Fill 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.
