Tree Removal

How The Method Gets Chosen

Almost every tree removal question here comes down to a single decision: what is the tree going to be taken apart by, and that is decided by three things in order.

First, will the tree take a climber, because that decides what kind of tree removal is even available. Sound wood and a stable base means it will. Borer-killed ash, extensive butt decay, or a plate that has already moved means it cannot, and no amount of experience makes that a judgement call.

Second, can the pieces be dropped or must they be lowered. Out on the South Dumfries concessions there is frequently room to fell a tree whole, and that tree removal is the fastest and cheapest there is. Inside the village almost no tree removal can be done that way.

Third, can the machinery reach it. That is where the ground decides the tree removal for you.

Heavy Ground Sets The Season

Clay does not forgive machinery, and a tree removal brings the heaviest kit we own onto your lawn.

A crane or a chipper truck on saturated silt leaves ruts that need turf lifted and relaid, and the compaction underneath damages whatever else is rooted nearby for years afterwards. That is not a cosmetic problem. The County's own guidance names soil compaction as one of the leading causes of tree decline, and clay compacts harder and recovers slower than sand.

So one tree can carry two different tree removal prices depending on the month it is booked. Frozen ground in late winter, or a properly dry spell in summer, is worth waiting for. Where waiting is not an option we track and mat instead of driving on bare turf, and that costs money too — but less than replacing a lawn and stressing three other trees.

What Makes A Tree Finished

Decay at the base with fungal brackets around it. Everything above stands on that buttress; the visible opening understates the cavity behind it every time. This is what prompts most of the tree removal advice we give.

A new lean with soil cracked or heaved on the high side. On clay that means the plate has moved, and a plate that has moved once will move again.

Dieback progressing from the top down over several seasons. Death travels down a tree, and a failing leader is generally the opening act.

A union that has already split, or one carrying included bark with a crack running out of it.

Ash the borer has finished with, which in this village is most of the standing ash.

The Ash Timing Argument, In Money

A live ash of ordinary size in a reachable garden is a climbing job and an ordinary tree removal. Two seasons after it dies the same tree removal needs a bucket or a crane, because the wood will no longer hold a climber or take rigging loads.

That is a step change in price, not a gradual increase, and it happens whether or not anybody is watching. Every year a dead ash stands, its tree removal gets dearer and more constrained, until the only remaining tree removal option is the most expensive one on the list.

If you have a dead ash and no pressing reason to book the tree removal, that is the reason.