What Counts as Tree Surgery
Tree surgery covers anything short of taking a tree out completely: crown reduction to bring the overall size down, crown thinning to let more light and air through without changing the shape much, crown lifting to raise the lowest branches clear of a drive or path, and deadwooding to strip out dead or dying limbs before they drop on their own. We also take on overgrown hedges — leylandii and conifer hedges that have gone past head height are one of the most common calls we get in Aberdeenshire gardens, usually because a neighbour's raised it or the hedge has started blocking light to a window.
All of it is cut to the proportions set out in BS3998, the UK standard for tree work, rather than reduced hard back to old wood and left to regrow badly. A tree that's been "topped" instead of properly reduced often responds with weak, fast regrowth that needs cutting again within a couple of years — we'd rather do it right the first time.
Access and safety
When It's Not a Ladder-and-Bow-Saw Job
A lot of tree work looks straightforward from the ground and isn't. Anything above head height, anything near a power line, or any branch with real weight behind it needs proper rigging or a climbing harness — we've finished more than one job that started with a homeowner's ladder and a chainsaw, and it's rarely a quick fix by that point. Where a branch is anywhere near an overhead line, we contact the network operator before cutting rather than treating the clearance as safe by eye.
We also try to avoid cutting hedges and trees between March and August, in line with the protection nesting wild birds get under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. If a job genuinely can't wait, we check for active nests first.
How it runs
From Quote to Clear-Up
Site visit
We look at the tree, the access, and anything overhead — power lines, sheds, greenhouses — before pricing anything.
Written quote
Exactly what's being done and how much is coming off, so there's no argument on the day about what "a bit off the top" means.
The work
Climbed with rope and harness, or worked from a platform where access allows, cut to the reduction agreed at quote stage.
Clear-up
Brash chipped or removed, logs left for firewood if you want them, site left tidy.
Common questions
FAQs
Usually not for routine pruning. Before we quote anything more than light trimming, we check whether the tree has a Tree Preservation Order or sits inside a conservation area — Banff town centre is a common example. Felling a garden tree for amenity reasons is generally exempt from needing a felling licence from Scottish Forestry, but a TPO or conservation area tree needs the council's consent regardless of size, and we handle that check before work starts, not after.
We clear the site as standard — brash goes through the chipper and the chippings can be left with you as mulch or taken away, whichever you'd rather. Larger branches and trunk sections can be cut to stove length and left as firewood if you want them; otherwise we remove everything.
Not for anyone without the right training, and not for us without coordinating first. If a branch is anywhere near an overhead line we contact the network operator before cutting rather than assuming the clearance is safe to work around.
Related services
Tree Felling & Stump Grinding
For trees that need to come out completely, not just reduced.
Find out more →