Straight felling vs. sectional dismantling
If a tree has a clear fall zone twice its height, felling it in one piece is quicker, cheaper and safer. Most Leicestershire gardens do not have that. In a Wigston semi with a 40ft ash three metres off the kitchen extension, the tree comes down in pieces, from the top, with a climber roping each section to the ground under control.
Sectional work costs more because it takes longer and needs two or three people rather than one. Any quote that treats the two as the same price has not looked at the access.
Before you remove a tree: the legal checks
Removing a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence, and the fine on conviction is unlimited in the Crown Court. Three checks apply in this county, and we do all three for you before quoting:
- Tree Preservation Order (TPO). Check with the district council — Oadby & Wigston, Blaby, Harborough, Charnwood or Leicester City depending on where you are. Works to a TPO tree need a written application and the council has eight weeks to decide.
- Conservation area. Any tree over 75mm diameter at 1.5m needs six weeks’ written notice to the council before works, whether or not it has a TPO. The council can respond by slapping a TPO on it.
- Planning conditions. New-build estates around Enderby, Whetstone and Broughton Astley frequently carry landscaping conditions that protect the trees planted at handover, with no TPO on the register at all.
Exemptions — and how often they are misread
Dead trees and trees presenting an urgent, serious safety risk are exempt from TPO consent, but the exemption is narrower than people think. You must give the council five working days’ written notice before the works unless the danger is immediate, and you must be able to prove the tree met the test. "It looked a bit rough" is not a defence. Where a tree is close to that line, we photograph and document the defect before a saw touches it.
There is also a replanting duty: fell a TPO tree under the dead-or-dangerous exemption and you are legally obliged to plant a replacement in the same place, unless the council waives it.
Nesting birds
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to damage or destroy an active nest. Between roughly March and August we check the canopy before starting, and if there is an active nest, that section of work waits. Bats are a further consideration on veteran trees with cavities — they are protected at all times, and a roost means a licensed ecologist before any work at all.
What happens to the timber
Brash is chipped on site and taken away. Cordwood is either stacked for you if you have a burner, or removed. If you want the trunk milled or left as a habitat pile in the corner of the garden, say so at the quote stage — it is easy to arrange and it usually takes money off the bill.