Tree surgeon FAQs

A tree surgeon is someone who cuts, prunes, fells and looks after trees, usually working at height with ropes, harnesses and chainsaws. Many work for small local firms, taking on jobs for homeowners, businesses and councils.

"Tree surgeon" isn't a protected title in the UK, so anyone can use it, whether or not they are trained. That's why it's worth checking qualifications and insurance before you hire. See do tree surgeons need qualifications?

Tree surgeons do the practical, hands-on work of tree care. The most common jobs are:

• Tree felling and dismantling, including taking trees down in sections where space is tight.
• Crown reduction and pruning: thinning, lifting, deadwooding and pollarding.
• Stump grinding and hedge cutting and reduction.
• Emergency work on storm-damaged, split or fallen trees.
• Planting, cable bracing, site clearance and help with TPO applications.

Many also sell logs and woodchip from their work. See all tree surgery services.

In the UK, "arborist" is mostly used as another word for a tree surgeon: someone who carries out practical tree work such as climbing, pruning and felling. The Arboricultural Association's own directory is headed "Find an arborist (tree surgeon)". Advice, surveys and reports usually come from an arboricultural consultant instead (see what is an arboriculturist?).

Neither title is legally defined. What matters more is the person's training: chainsaw and climbing certificates for practical work, and arboricultural qualifications or registration with a professional body such as the Arboricultural Association for consultancy.

An arboriculturist is someone who works in arboriculture, the cultivation and management of trees, usually on the professional and advisory side. The title is most often used by consultants who carry out tree surveys, write reports for planning applications (BS 5837 surveys, impact assessments and method statements), assess tree risk or advise insurers and mortgage lenders.

If you need a formal report rather than practical work, look for an arboricultural consultant with a recognised qualification. See tree surveys and reports and mortgage and insurance tree reports.

There's no licence to work as a tree surgeon, but anyone using a chainsaw at work or climbing trees must be trained and competent. In practice that means certificates such as NPTC (City & Guilds) or Lantra units for chainsaw use, felling, tree climbing and aerial rescue. Firms that pass the Arboricultural Association's Approved Contractor scheme have been independently assessed.

Ask to see certificates for the people who will be on site. We list what each firm says on its own website, but we don't verify qualifications.

Yes. Any firm you hire should hold public liability insurance, which covers damage to your property or injury to other people, and employers' liability insurance if it employs staff, which is a legal requirement for employers. The Arboricultural Association recommends at least £5 million of public liability cover, and requires it of its Approved Contractors. Ask to see the current certificate before work starts.

It depends on the job. As a guide, Housekeep's tree surgery cost guide (March 2026), a commercial cost guide, gives these typical prices outside London, including VAT:

These are national guide prices, not quotes. Prices for your job depend on the tree, the access and what's included, so get two or three written quotes from local firms. We don't set or check prices.

Housekeep's tree surgery cost guide (March 2026) puts a typical team day rate at £300 to £700. It's described as a team rate, so what you get depends on how many people are on the crew and what equipment they bring. Cranes, platforms or traffic management usually cost extra.

Many jobs are quoted as a fixed price instead, which makes it easier to compare firms. If a quote is a day rate, ask how many days the job will take and how many people will be on site.

• Size and species: large hardwoods take longer than small conifers.
• Access: if everything has to be carried through a house or lowered over a conservatory, the job takes far longer than in an open garden.
• Method: sectional dismantling with rigging costs more than straight felling. Platforms, cranes and road closures add cost (see difficult access work).
• What's included: stump grinding, removing logs and chippings, and making an application for a protected tree.
• Timing: out-of-hours emergency callouts usually cost more than planned work.

When you compare quotes, check that each one covers the same work.

Tree surgeons climb on ropes, wearing a climbing harness and a helmet. A line is usually thrown or set over a strong branch union high in the tree, and the climber ascends the rope using friction hitches or mechanical devices, then works from the rope system. The Arboricultural Association says two personal fall protection systems (two ropes) on independent anchors should be the preferred way of working, so the climber is still held if one fails (see its Personal Fall Protection Systems update).

Climbing spikes are normally kept for trees that are being removed, because they wound the bark. Where climbing isn't safe, firms use a mobile platform (cherry picker) instead.

The HSE says a minimum of two people must be present during all aerial work, with one on the ground able to carry out an aerial rescue without delay. A tree surgeon working alone up a tree is a warning sign.

Often, yes: light rain doesn't normally stop work. Work stops when conditions make climbing or felling unsafe: strong or gusty winds, lightning, ice, or rain heavy enough to make the tree and the ground dangerously slippery. The crew decides on the day as part of their risk assessment.

If your job is rescheduled because of the weather, that's a good sign the firm takes safety seriously. Emergency work after storms often goes ahead in poor conditions, with extra precautions.

Late autumn to late winter suits most pruning and felling, while trees are dormant and most birds aren't nesting. Some trees are different: plums and cherries are pruned in spring or summer to avoid silver leaf disease, and birch and walnut bleed sap if cut in late winter or early spring, so they're better pruned in summer or early winter.

Work can happen all year, but wild birds, their eggs and nests are protected by law. It's an offence to intentionally damage or destroy a nest while it's being built or in use, so between March and August a good firm checks carefully before cutting. Bats and their roosts are protected all year, whether or not bats are present.

A small prune or a single small tree can take an hour or two. A large tree dismantled in sections over a house can take a full day or more, plus clearing up and stump grinding. Your quote should say how long the firm expects to be on site.

Most firms chip the branches on site and take the chippings away, and will either remove the logs or leave them for you. Some will leave the chippings as mulch if you ask. Make sure the quote says what happens to the waste, and check that a firm carrying waste away is a registered waste carrier.

Most do, usually by stump grinding, which grinds the stump to below ground level so you can returf or replant. It isn't always included in a felling quote, so ask.

Not usually, unless the tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), stands in a conservation area, or is covered by a planning condition. A TPO tree needs the council's written consent, and most trees in a conservation area need six weeks' written notice, with exceptions such as small trees (trunk 75mm or less across) and dead or dangerous trees. Cutting down or damaging a protected tree without permission is a criminal offence and can lead to an unlimited fine. See our TPO and conservation area guide, which also lists the six Worcestershire councils.

• Get two or three written quotes that describe exactly what will be done.
• Ask to see public liability insurance and the crew's NPTC or Lantra certificates.
• Ask whether the work will follow BS 3998, the British Standard for tree work.
• Check that the firm will look for TPO or conservation area restrictions and nesting birds.
• Be wary of anyone who knocks on the door offering cheap tree work, asks for payment upfront or in cash, or recommends "topping" a tree.

Find listed firms by town on our locations page.

If anyone is in danger, call 999. If a tree has brought down or is touching a power line, keep well clear and call 105, the free number for power cuts and damaged lines, and call 999 if there's immediate danger to life. For a fallen or dangerous tree on your own property, see our emergency tree surgeons page, which lists firms whose own websites advertise 24-hour callouts, by town.

A gardener can trim hedges and small shrubs, but any job that involves climbing, a chainsaw at height, or felling anything bigger than a small sapling needs a trained, insured tree surgeon. The HSE describes aerial tree work as a hazardous occupation, and if the person doing it has no suitable insurance you could be left to deal with any injury or damage yourself, so check the cover before work starts.