Felling and sectional dismantling

What it is

Felling is taking a tree down. In an open field with drop-zone, that’s a single cut at the base and the tree goes where we planned. In a garden in Bexhill with a shed on one side, a greenhouse on the other and a neighbour’s conservatory behind, that’s a sectional dismantle. We climb the tree, take it down piece by piece, rigging limbs on ropes and lowering them to ground.

Both jobs end the same way, with a stump in the ground and a pile of arisings on the chipper. The difference is the method and the risk. Straight felling is faster and cheaper where the ground allows it. Sectional is the answer almost everywhere else in a domestic garden.

When felling is the right call

• The tree is dead, dying, or structurally unsound, and a reduction won’t bring it back.
• A split leader or major limb failure has made the tree unsafe to leave standing.
• The tree is the wrong species in the wrong place and has outgrown the garden beyond what a reduction can fix.
• Honey fungus, ash dieback or similar pathology means the tree won’t see another five years.
• You’re putting in an extension, a new driveway or a rebuild, and the tree sits where the footings need to go.

How we do it

• Site visit and method statement. We walk the job, agree the method with you, write up RAMS, and plan the drop-zones and rigging points before we turn up with a saw.
• Nesting-bird check between March and August. Legal duty, and we do it honestly. If there’s an active nest, we wait or we work around it.
• Rigging, not dropping. Limbs over sheds, fences and neighbouring gardens come down on ropes. Ground mats protect the lawn where we need them.
• LOLER-inspected climbing kit. Ropes, harness and hardware inspected every six months by a qualified third party. Paperwork available on request.
• Chipper on site, waste away on the truck. Logs stacked where you want them or taken with us. Stump either ground out (see below) or left standing if you’d rather.

What it costs

Priced per tree after a site visit. Species, size, access for the chipper, proximity to buildings and whether the tree is TPO’d all move the number. A mature Monterey pine in a tight Hastings back garden is a different job to a dead ash in an open paddock. We put a written quote in front of you within two working days, with the method on it.

What we won’t do

We won’t fell a tree we haven’t seen. We won’t fell a TPO’d or conservation-area tree without the paperwork in place. We won’t drop a limb we’re not confident of landing where we planned. If a reduction would do the job, we’ll say so; if the tree genuinely has to come out, we’ll say that too.

TPOs and conservation areas

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 felling. The council then has six weeks to respond. A TPO’d tree needs a formal application with evidence for removal, regardless of the conservation area status. We file the paperwork with Hastings Borough Council or Rother District Council on your behalf and wait the clock out before we put a saw in.