Crown reduction and tree pruning in Birmingham & the West Midlands

A lot of the trees people want gone don't really need to go. The oak casting shade over the whole lawn, the sycamore dropping sap on the car, the birch whose branches brush the bedroom window. Often the answer is to make the tree smaller rather than take it out.

Crown reduction shortens the branches all round the crown so the tree is lower and narrower but keeps its shape. It's one of several pruning jobs, and the right one depends on the problem you're trying to solve. We connect you with one vetted tree surgeon in your area who can advise and give you a fixed price.

What it costs

Prices include chipping and taking away the cuttings. They're indicative: the specialist confirms a fixed price from your photos, usually the same day. The crown reduction cost guide goes into more detail.

Which kind of pruning?

• Crown reduction makes the whole tree smaller. Good when a tree has outgrown its space or is catching a lot of wind.
• Crown lift removes the lowest branches to raise the canopy. Useful for getting light onto a lawn, headroom over a path, or clearance over a drive.
• Crown thin removes a proportion of smaller inner branches to let more light through without changing the outline much.
• Deadwood removal takes out dead and dying branches, which matters most where people or cars sit underneath.
• Cutting back to a boundary deals with branches overhanging from next door. Our guide on cutting a neighbour's overhanging branches sets out what you can and can't do.

Jobs are often combined, for example a light reduction with a crown lift. The specialist will price the combination.

What affects the price

• How much is taken off. A light reduction on a medium tree is quicker than a heavier one, and produces less waste.
• What's underneath. Branches over a conservatory or greenhouse have to be lowered on ropes rather than dropped.
• Species. Some trees are slow and awkward to climb, and some need careful timing (see below).
• Access and waste. Everything carried through the house, or a tree more than 20m from the van, adds around 15%. Keeping the chippings takes about £75 off.
• More than one tree. Two or three trees cost about 1.8 times one; four or more about 2.5 times.
• Survey jobs. Trees over 15m, overhanging a roof, near overhead cables or over a road, or estimates above £1,200.

What the job involves

1. Agreeing the target. You and the specialist agree what you want: how much height and spread to lose, and which branches matter most, such as those over the house.
2. Climbing in. A climber sets a rope high in the tree and works out along the limbs. On larger trees a cherry-picker is sometimes used instead.
3. Cutting to growth points. Each branch is shortened back to a smaller side branch that can take over as the new tip. Good practice, set out in the tree work standard BS 3998:2010, avoids leaving stubs and cuts just outside the branch collar so the wound can seal over.
4. Lowering and clearing. Cut material is dropped or lowered, chipped and taken away.
5. A final look from the ground. The specialist checks the balance of the crown and tidies anything that looks uneven.

What you should not get is "topping" or "lopping": sawing the tree off at a set height regardless of where the branches are. It leaves large wounds that can decay and usually triggers a mass of weak regrowth. If a quote from anyone else sounds like that, ask how they'll make the cuts.

Timing matters for some species. Cherries and plums are usually pruned in summer to reduce the risk of silver leaf disease. Birch, walnut and maples bleed sap heavily if cut in late winter and spring, so they're better done in summer or early autumn. Many specialists avoid heavy pruning while leaves are first opening in spring.

Tree specialists cover Edgbaston, Harborne and Bearwood, South Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield, among other areas.