Tree removal and felling in Cornwall

How is a tree taken down safely?

Either it comes down in one piece or it comes down in sections. If there is clear ground the tree can fall into, felling it whole is quicker and cheaper. If it is over a house, a greenhouse, a lane or a neighbour, I climb it and take it apart from the top, lowering each piece on ropes so nothing lands where it should not.

Which of those two applies is the single biggest thing that decides what a job costs, and it is the reason I will not price a tree removal over the phone. Two sycamores of the same size can differ enormously depending on what is underneath them.

Do I need permission to remove a tree?

Sometimes. If the tree has a Tree Preservation Order on it, or it stands in a conservation area, you need consent from Cornwall Council before any work starts. Removing a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence, and the fine can be substantial. Checking is free and takes a few minutes.

Large parts of St Ives, Penzance and Redruth sit inside conservation areas, and plenty of homeowners have no idea their tree is covered. I check before quoting, and I will tell you if an application is needed. In a conservation area the council must be given six weeks notice; a TPO application is a separate process.

If a tree is genuinely dangerous there are exemptions, but they are narrower than people assume and they still usually require notifying the council.

What about nesting birds and bats?

Both are protected by law, and it is my job to know that, not yours. It is an offence to damage an active nest, so between March and August I check a tree before starting and will postpone work if there is a nest in it. Bat roosts are protected all year round.

If I find a roost, or signs of one, the work stops and the right advice gets taken before anything else happens. That occasionally means a delay.

What happens to the wood and the branches?

That gets agreed before I start, and it goes on the quote in writing. The usual arrangement is that the timber stays with you — a lot of people in Cornwall want it for a wood burner — and I cut it to a length you can handle and stack it where you want it.

If you do not want the timber or the brash, tell me at the quote and taking it away is priced in. Clearing a site is a real part of what a job costs, so it is agreed up front rather than added afterwards.

Can you get to a tree with no access?

Usually, yes. That is what climbing is for. Where there is no room for a machine, no gate wide enough and no way to get a lorry near, the tree still has to be dismantled by someone up it on ropes, lowering the pieces by hand. It takes longer, which is reflected in the price.

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 size and species of the tree — a mature beech is a very different job from a leylandii of the same height
• How close it is to buildings, greenhouses, walls, fences and power lines
• Whether it can be felled whole or has to be dismantled in sections from the top
• Access: whether there is a route for machinery, or everything has to be carried out by hand
• What happens to the timber and the brash, and whether any of it leaves the site
• Whether the tree has a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area

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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 Camborne
• Tree surgeon in Redruth

How the quoting process works