Tree Surgeon – Why Do I Need One As I Can Do It Myself

There are some jobs or tasks in your garden you can do yourself, which we actively encourage you to do so. However, there is a crossover from DIY to hiring a professional. Deciding when to hire a professional will depend on the individual’s ability with power tools, strength, and confidence. There is, however, an exception, large trees require the expertise of a professional Sheffield tree surgeon and here is why.

Health and Safety

Often to trim, prune or reduce the crown on a tree, we need to use several tools, ranging from ladders, ropes and power tools. If you decide to do it yourself, it might be worth borrowing them from local tool rental providers. But, the most important reason for hiring a tree surgeon is on health and safety grounds. Whilst hanging from a safety line at the top of a large tree, using a chain saw requires training and liability insurance.

If done incorrectly, it can cause severe harm or loss of life. Tree surgeons continually train in high rope access, power tools and several other health and safety courses. Also, tree surgeons have to take out public liability insurance where you do not.

Knowledge and Know-How

Believe it or not, there is a skill to pruning, trimming or removing a tree. If you try chopping down a large tree yourself and it goes wrong, you may damage yours or a neighbouring property.

If you do not know what you are doing and hack away at a tree, you may cause lasting damage to the tree affecting the foliage for years to come. There is an art to pruning a tree, ensuring it keeps its shape and allowing enough light into the centre.

Here are some of the specific tree surgery skills that you may not know.

Tree Pruning: Trees frequently outgrow their environment. Pruning requires skill and patience. To keep the natural tree shape, tree surgeons use drop-crotching and target pruning.

Crown Reduction: Reducing the crown will alleviate the oppressive effect of a large tree. A crown reduction, done by a professional, will limit the wounding to a tree and keep the natural shape.

Crown Lifting: Crown lifting removes the lower branches, which is often useful in built-up areas. By law, a tree has to be a set distance from buildings and roads.

Stump Grinding: Often, the most challenging part of removing a tree for DIYers. Stump grinding is the removal of the base of the tree.

Pollarding: Pollarding is an old technique for producing timber and introduces a new framework for a tree.

Rule, Regulations and the Law

You should be aware of three laws before chopping down and removing a tree in the UK. They are Tree Preservations Orders (TPOs), Conservation Area and Restricted Covenant. Breaking either one of these can lead to a hefty fine. However, you can avoid this by hiring a professional tree surgeon. They will know what you can and can not do and where to apply for the work to be authorised.

So, if you want to remove a large tree from your property, it would be wise to hire a professional tree surgeon. It will be safer and will stop you from potentially getting into trouble with the local authorities.