Services · Tree work

Tree services in Shepherdswell: five standard operations, done properly.

The mature trees behind your hedge need different work at different points in their life. I do the five that come up on almost every Shepherdswell and Coldred garden: pruning, crown thinning, crown raising, crown reduction and deadwooding. Exposed-plot wind-load, ash dieback and TPO / conservation-area paperwork all handled as part of the quote.

Pruning

Selective removal of dead, diseased or structurally unsound parts: branches, buds, roots. The general tree work every mature garden tree needs on a cycle. Formative pruning on young trees; maintenance pruning on the established sycamores, limes and holm oaks that fill the older Shepherdswell gardens.

Pruning detail & pricing

Crown thinning

Selective removal of live branches to reduce canopy density. Wind passes through instead of loading the tree as a solid sail, which matters on the more exposed North Downs plots. First choice on dense mature sycamores on open farmland edges.

How thinning works

Crown raising

Also called crown elevation. Removing lower branches for pedestrian, vehicle or building clearance, or to open a sightline. The usual answer when a mature front-garden tree in the older village core has been under-managed for a decade.

When to raise

Crown reduction

Reducing the overall height or spread by cutting branches back to laterals of a sensible size. Not topping, that's the wrong approach and I don't do it. Reduction protects the tree's future shape while dropping the wind-loading and the neighbour-boundary pressure now.

Reduction vs topping

Deadwooding

Removal of dead, dying or diseased branches from the canopy. Purely for safety and tree health, nothing structural. Standard annual maintenance on established garden trees, especially over paths, driveways and parked cars.

Deadwooding detail

Also on the boundary

Hedge cutting, and height and width reduction, all the boundary work you'd expect from a hedge specialist, done to the same standard as the tree work.

See hedge services

Before I cut

TPO and conservation-area checks: included.

Shepherdswell has a designated conservation area covering the older village core around Church Hill and Mill Lane. Any tree over 75mm in diameter at 1.5m needs six weeks' section-211 notice to Dover District Council before work. A tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs a full application with 8 weeks' notice. I check both, file the paperwork, and quote knowing which window we're working in, no last-minute stop-work order on the day. Unauthorised work on a protected tree can carry a fine of up to £20,000 per tree, so the paperwork is not optional.