Services · Tree work
The mature trees behind your hedge need different work at different points in their life. I do the five that come up on almost every Thanet garden: pruning, crown thinning, crown raising, crown reduction and deadwooding. Cross-town: Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate on the same call-out. TPO and conservation-area applications to Thanet District Council handled where the tree is protected.
Selective removal of dead, diseased or structurally unsound parts: branches, buds, roots. The general tree work every mature garden tree needs on a cycle. Formative pruning on young trees; maintenance pruning on established ones.
Pruning detail & pricingSelective removal of live branches to reduce canopy density. Wind passes through instead of loading the tree, critical on the exposed cliff-tops at Kingsgate, Foreness and Pegwell. More light reaches the garden below.
How thinning worksAlso called crown elevation. Removing lower branches to give pedestrian, vehicle or building clearance, or to open up a sightline over the seafront. The usual answer when a mature tree has been under-managed for a decade.
When to raiseReducing the overall height or spread by cutting branches back to lateral limbs of a sensible size. Not topping: that's the wrong approach and I don't do it. Reduction protects the tree's future shape while relieving the pressure now.
Reduction vs toppingRemoval of dead, dying or diseased branches from the canopy, heightened importance on Thanet because ash dieback is prominent across East Kent. Purely for safety and tree health, nothing structural changes.
Deadwooding detailHedge cutting and height and width reduction: the boundary work you'd expect from a hedge specialist, done to the same standard as the tree work.
See hedge servicesBefore we cut
Most of urban Thanet sits inside a Thanet District Council conservation area: Margate Old Town and Seafront, Cliftonville's eight CAs, Ramsgate town centre plus Royal Esplanade and Montefiore, Broadstairs Old Town (2018), the three Westgate-on-Sea CAs (2006), Birchington Square (2024) and Minster historic core. Any tree over 75mm in diameter at 1.5m inside a CA needs six weeks' section-211 notice to TDC before work. A tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs a full application with 8 weeks' notice. I check both, file the paperwork, and quote knowing which window we're working in: no last-minute stop-work order on the day.
Photos of the tree, the surrounding buildings and your postcode. Same-day price, next available date. Multi-property landlords: one enquiry, all addresses.