Tree Surgery in Harpenden

Have you being considering the options available to you for removing the conifers around your home? Or perhaps you’re just planning to raise some structures in an area where you have lots of conifer trees. Regardless of your reason for wanting to remove a conifer tree, you’ve come to the right place!

There are multiple options to remove a conifer tree based on the one that best suits your needs. Some individuals are okay with felling the tree and leaving the stumps behind, while others don’t just want both the tree and the stumps so they poison the tree and subject the stumps to a quick rotting process.

lThe Physical Method

This basically involves felling the trees with the help of powerful machines and other tools. Let’s take a look!

• Early preparation. Get your chainsaw ready alongside your pruning tools as well as other equipments that can prove to be useful.

• Determine the direction you want the tree to fall. You must ensure there’s no passerby risk or risk of damage to any property whatsoever.

• Cut down the trunk. Put your chainsaw to use. First cut doen the branches and twigs before felling the tree.

• Choose your cutting technique depending on the tree’s size, slope and chainsaw available.

• Check for possible infestation before removing the conifer tree.

• Remove the conifer stumps by grinding the stumps out (use a grinder) and setting fire to consume the stumps.

lThe Chemical Method

To carry out this process, you need to first cut down the large tree branches using a chainsaw. Once done, cut off a portion around the circumference of the trunk below the lower branches, close to the root. Leave the bark’s strips connected to the conifer tree to expose the inner tissue.

Mix the chemicals and apply into the conifer tree directly until the whole surface is covered. This will make the conifer tree to die off gradually for a couple of weeks.

The decision to purchase a property may not come with trees as an influencing factor. However, when the trees start to get overgrown or appears sick you will have to consider the regulatory status which may affect your ability to prune, fell or remove them.

First and foremost, the owner of the tree must be determined and this is the individual who owns the land on which the tree was originally planted. However, if you’re not the owner but the tree overhangs your land you’re allowed to cut the branches back up to the boundary, if the tree is unprotected. In such cases, you normally do not need to seek the consent of the original tree owner or neighbouring land owner to perform the works to the tree. But the branches and fruits on them ( if any) still remains that of the land owner and they’re to be returned to them if necessary.

In situations whereby you’re the owner of the tree, you’re required to determine whether or not your tree is protected by a Tree Protection Order ( TPO) before any action can be taken. The main goal of a Tree Protection Order is to provide protection to trees which are considered to deliver amenity values to the general public. In other words, if your tree can be viewed by the public and enjoyed from outside your garden’s confines then there’s a high possibility that it’s subjected to a TPO.

To confirm whether or not your tree is subjected to a TPO, you can check with your local planning authority (LPA). However, there are some local council websites that displays all TPOs registered within their jurisdiction.

When home or property owners decide to plant a Leylandii, they mostly think about how great it is as a hedging and screening plant and forgetting it also require a regular maintenance to keep in good shape. One thing about Leylandii are they do not re grow if you happen to cut back into the old wood. Once it turns brown, it will remain like that with no possible solutions to remedy the situation as they have little to no ability to regrow from the old wood.

In order to maintain your Leylandii hedge in good shape and order, that’s not too wide or too tall, then it’s recommended that it should be trimmed at least once a year. By doing this, you’re more likely to cut only into the new green growth which will enable the hedging plant look great and green with no brown patches. So when is the best time to prune a Leylandii hedge plant in a year?

Generally, it’s advisable to cut back mature or overgrown Leylandii hedges in the UK about two to three cuts between the months of April and August. By this time, your hedge plant will already be well established and ready for some maintenance and care. However, if there’s a chance that you might not be able to prune it on a yearly basis, the we’d suggest you get a slower growing alternative instead. Some of the alternatives which are slower growing and unlike Leylandii, can regenerate when cut back into the old wood are several types of Thuja as well as English Yew.

Below are some guidelines you can follow when trimming your Leylandii hedge:

• Do not cut Leylandii hedges during very forsty or hot weather.

• Do not cut the hedges during wet conditions to allow the cut dry and heal quickly.

• Make use of sharp tools.

• Cut on a cool and breezy day.

Although we advocate non-removal of trees, but we also know for a fact that this isn’t always possible especially when it involves safety challenges or damage to property. If you’re looking to remove a tree on your property, then you should probably confirm whether or not you’d require a council approval.

In the UK, if the tree you want removed has a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) placed on it, then before you’ll be able to perform any sort of work to the tree ( be it cutting a branch or felling/ removing the tree), you must obtain a permission from the council.

The Tree Preservation Order is created by local planning authorities such as a district, borough or national park with the aim of providing adequate protection to trees which provide amenity values to the public. Any act to the TPO protected tree such as cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilful damage considered a criminal offence. In other words, if the tree on your property is visible and is enjoyed by the public then there’s a possibility that there’s a TPO placed on it. To confirm whether or not this is the case, you can reach out to your local council’s tree officer for more information.

You will need to fill out an application form and submit to your local authority in order to request permission of remove a tree. In the event whereby you happen to reside in a Conservation Area, the same rules applies as TPO-placed trees but you don’t necessarily need to have TPO placed on them.

If the tree is in your garden without a TPO placed on it and you do not live in a Conservation Area, then you would not need to apply for permission to have it removed.