Tree climbing, pruning and crown reduction

What is a crown reduction?

Taking the outer edge of a tree back evenly, all the way round, so it keeps its natural shape but ends up smaller. Each cut goes back to a growth point that can take over as the new tip. Done properly it reduces weight and wind resistance and the tree carries on growing normally.

It is not the same as topping — cutting the top off a tree and leaving stubs. Topping is still done by some people and it is bad practice: the tree responds with a mass of weak regrowth from the wound, which in a few years is heavier, denser and more likely to fail than what you started with. I do not do it.

When is the right time of year to prune?

For most broadleaved trees, late autumn through winter, while the tree is dormant. You can see the structure with the leaves off, and the tree is not putting energy into growth. There are exceptions — cherries and plums are pruned in summer to avoid silver leaf, and birches and maples bleed sap heavily if cut in late winter.

Nesting season runs from March to August, which rules out a lot of work on trees and hedges holding nests. Between the two, winter is when most of this work happens.

Why climb instead of using a machine?

Because across a lot of west Cornwall there is nowhere to put one. Narrow lanes, granite terraces with no side access, gardens up steps, tight courtyards behind cottages: a platform cannot get in, and even if it could there is often no hard standing to sit it on. Climbing gets to the tree anyway.

St Ives is the clearest example in the patch. A large share of the town is unreachable by machine, and that is where climbing stops being an option and becomes the only way the job happens at all.

Will pruning damage the tree?

Not if the amount taken is sensible and the cuts are in the right places. A tree makes its food in its leaves, so removing too much at once weakens it. The general guide is to take no more than about a quarter of the crown in one go, and to cut back to a suitable growth point rather than leaving stubs.

What kinds of pruning are there?

The three most people want are crown reduction, crown thinning and crown lifting. Reduction makes the tree smaller overall. Thinning takes out selected branches inside the crown to let light and wind through without changing the outline. Lifting removes the lowest branches to clear a path, a drive or a view.

• Crown reduction — the whole crown taken back evenly, keeping the shape
• Crown thinning — selected branches removed to let more light through
• Crown lifting — the lowest branches taken off to clear space beneath
• Deadwooding — dead and broken limbs removed, usually for safety
• Sectional dismantling — taking a tree apart from the top where it cannot be felled

What does it cost?

I do not put prices on this website, because a price that means anything has to come from looking at the actual tree. What I can tell you is what the price depends on. Every quote is free and given on the day I visit.

• The height of the tree and how much of it has to be climbed
• How much is coming off, and whether it is a reduction, a thin or a lift
• The species — some trees are far harder to climb and rig than others
• What is underneath: a lawn is straightforward, a conservatory is not
• Access for getting the brash out, and what happens to it
• Whether the tree is protected by a TPO or sits in a conservation area

Customers on this kind of job

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Where I do this work

I am based in Hayle and cover west Cornwall, and further afield across Cornwall and Devon for the right job. These are the towns where this particular work comes up most.

• Tree surgeon in St Ives
• Tree surgeon in Carbis Bay
• Tree surgeon in Penzance

How the quoting process works