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Tree Surgery

Tree Felling in Hertfordshire

Straight felling where there is room, sectional dismantling where there is not — which in a garden is most of the time.

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Tree Masters Hertfordshire fells trees of all sizes across the county, from self-seeded sycamores in a border to mature specimens that have to come down a section at a time over a conservatory.

Two quite different operations go by the same name, and which one your tree needs is decided by what is underneath it rather than by how big it is.

Straight Felling

An arborist sectioning a felled trunk with a chainsaw
An arborist sectioning a felled trunk with a chainsaw.

The tree is cut at the base and laid down in one piece. Quick, efficient and far cheaper — and it needs a clear space at least as long as the tree is tall, with nothing in it.

In practice that means paddocks, large rural plots, woodland edges and the occasional generous garden. It is how tree felling is pictured and it is not how most garden trees come down.

Sectional Dismantling

Everything else. A climbing arborist works up the tree and takes it apart from the top, with each piece either dropped into a clear zone below or roped and lowered under control where there is no clear zone at all.

It is slower, and the slowness is the point: nothing comes down faster than the ground team can handle it, and nothing lands anywhere it was not meant to. It is what allows a large tree to be removed from a terraced back garden without touching the greenhouse.

What Our Tree Felling Service Covers

  • Sectional dismantling in confined and overlooked gardens
  • Straight felling on open ground where there is a safe drop
  • Dead, dying and storm-damaged trees
  • Ash affected by dieback, which is better felled earlier than later
  • Self-seeded sycamore, ash and elder in borders and hedge lines
  • Trees too close to buildings, drains, walls and boundaries
  • Stump grinding in the same visit where access allows
  • All timber and brash removed, or cordwood left cut to length

What Decides the Price

Access, and then what is underneath. A tree on open ground with a vehicle alongside is the cheap version of any given job. The same tree in a back garden reached through the house is a different piece of work, because every section is roped down and every piece of the resulting material is carried out by hand.

Height matters less than spread, because the spread is what determines how much rigging is needed. Dense hardwood is heavier to handle than softwood. A dead or decayed tree is harder again, because it cannot be climbed with the same confidence and often has to be taken down from a platform instead.

Before Anything Is Booked

Check whether the tree is protected. A Tree Preservation Order, or a conservation area, makes felling an offence without consent, and the process takes weeks rather than days. The check with the district or borough council is free, and it is the first thing we would do.

It is also worth asking whether felling is actually what you need. A good proportion of the trees we are called out to fell are causing a complaint about size or shade, and both of those are solved by a reduction at a fraction of the cost — with the tree still there afterwards.

What Is Left Behind

A stump, unless grinding has been arranged, and a noticeably different garden. The light changes immediately, and there is usually a bare patch where the canopy kept things from growing. Both are normal and both settle within a season.

Grinding the stump during the same visit is substantially cheaper than bringing a machine back separately, so it is worth deciding at the quotation rather than afterwards.

Tree Surgery Work Across Hertfordshire

A Tree Masters arborist making a cut with a chainsaw high in a treeCut brash being fed into a Tree Masters wood chipperAn arborist sectioning a felled trunk with a chainsawA climbing arborist roped into the crown of a large tree

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Tree Felling in Your Part of Hertfordshire

We cover the whole county. Each town has its own tree surgery page covering the ground, the plots and the access that shape the work there.

Tree Felling — Common Questions

Do you fell trees in small gardens?

Yes. Most garden trees come down by sectional dismantling rather than straight felling, which is exactly what confined gardens need.

Do I need permission to fell a tree?

Sometimes. A Tree Preservation Order or a conservation area makes it an offence without consent. The check with the council is free and it is the first thing to do.

Is the stump included?

It is quoted separately, because grinding needs its own machine and its own access. Doing it in the same visit is much cheaper than arranging it later.

Can you fell a tree close to my house?

Yes. That is what sectional dismantling is for — the tree comes down in pieces small enough to control rather than in one.

What happens to the timber?

It goes, unless you want it. Say so at the quotation and we will cut cordwood to a length you specify and stack it where you want it.

Get a Quote for Tree Felling

Free quotations

Tell us what needs doing across Hertfordshire and we will quote for the work. Call 07388 094829, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.

Areas We Cover in Hertfordshire

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