Tree Pruning in St Albans

• WorkTree pruning
• AreaSt Albans
• TreeLarge garden conifer
• AccessExtending ladder from the front garden

This was a large conifer in a front garden in St Albans, standing close to the house, the boundary and the street. A tree like this keeps growing for as long as it lives, and in a town garden it does not take many years for the crown to start crowding everything around it.

The pruning was done from an extending ladder, taking out growth selectively rather than cutting the whole tree back to one flat height. That keeps the natural shape of the tree, which matters with a conifer: the form is the whole attraction of it, and heavy, indiscriminate cutting is hard to put right.

What the job involved

• Pruning back selected growth to reduce the size and weight of the crown
• Opening up the lower part of the tree so the trunk is visible and the base is clear
• Keeping the tree's natural outline instead of cutting it to a block
• Clearing the cut material from the garden afterwards

Why prune a tree like this

Pruning is how you keep a tree you like at a size your garden can live with. It reduces the load on the branches, lets more light reach the ground beneath and keeps growth away from the house, the neighbours and the pavement. It is also far cheaper and less disruptive than waiting until the only option is removal.

If you would like to know when the work is best done, our guide on when a tree should be pruned in Hertfordshire sets it out, and what crown reduction is and when it is used explains the bigger version of the same job.