Coventry has a lot of big trees for a city, and many of them sit in or beside private gardens. Along the Kenilworth Road and around Styvechale they are oak, lime and beech. Behind the 1930s semis of Coundon and Cheylesmore they are cherry, apple, birch and rowan that have outgrown the plot. Ash is everywhere. Crown reduction is often the way to keep the tree while getting light and space back.
Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local tree surgeon who covers CV1 to CV8, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.
What crown reduction costs in Coventry
| Tree size | Crown reduction | Pruning, crown lift, thin or deadwood |
|---|---|---|
| Small (under 5m) | £220–£300 | £180–£280 |
| Medium (5–10m) | £320–£480 | £280–£400 |
| Large (10–15m) | £480–£750 | £400–£600 |
| Over 15m | Free survey | Free survey |
Prices include chipping and taking away the cuttings. A cherry or birch in a 1930s garden is usually a small or medium job priced from photos. An old oak or lime near the Kenilworth Road can pass 15 metres and goes to a free survey. In Earlsdon and Chapelfields, where cuttings often go out through the house, access is the bigger cost factor. The crown reduction cost guide has worked examples.
What pushes the price up here
- Carrying through the house. Long, narrow Earlsdon and Chapelfields gardens often have no side access. If everything goes through the house, or the tree is more than 20 metres from the van, expect around 15% more.
- Height and spread. Big oaks, limes and planes over 15 metres, or anything over a roof, are priced after a visit.
- What's underneath. Branches over a conservatory or greenhouse are roped down rather than dropped.
- Combined jobs. A reduction with a crown lift over the pavement is common, and priced together.
- More than one tree. Two or three trees cost about 1.8 times the price of one.
- Keeping the chippings. Leaving them takes about £75 off.
Pruning in Coventry's conservation areas
Coventry's own conservation area page is clear that notice is not just for felling. Anyone planning to cut down, reduce the height or canopy of a tree over a certain size in a conservation area must give six weeks' notice, whether or not it has a TPO. That is exactly what a crown reduction does. The council asks for tree enquiries to go to both its conservation team and its trees team, at trees@coventry.gov.uk.
Two areas show what is at stake:
- Kenilworth Road, a conservation area since 1968. The council describes the Kenilworth Road Spinney, a belt of trees lining both sides of the road for nearly two miles. Nearby Stivichall Common still has traces of three rows of oaks planted in the 18th century, with lime, beech, silver birch, sycamore and hornbeam.
- Earlsdon, a conservation area since November 2022. Its appraisal records 32 London plane trees in Spencer Park, next to the railway, covered by TPOs. Residents raised the pruning needs of mature trees, and roots lifting pavements, during the consultation.
For a tree with its own TPO, apply for consent through the Planning Portal. Coventry's online planning map shows Orders, but the council says it isn't formal confirmation.
How Coventry looks after its own trees
The council looks after trees on streets, in parks and woodlands, and in cemeteries and churchyards. Street trees belong to the council. If one overhangs your garden, you can cut back only to your boundary, and our guide on overhanging branches sets that out.
- Pollarding cycles. Every year Coventry pollards street trees on a three- or five-year cycle, with work running from December to March. Roads on the list it currently publishes include Allesley Old Road, Humber Road, Villa Road, Christchurch Road and Three Spires Avenue. Its tree strategy says the programme is needed to meet the council's liabilities for subsidence risk. It aims to replace those trees with more suitable species over time.
- No inappropriate cuts. The same strategy says the council will not top or prune trees inappropriately.
- What it won't do. Coventry doesn't have to prune or fell its trees to improve light, a view or TV reception. It only cuts back overhanging branches that are an actionable nuisance. It aims to investigate an enquiry within five working days, or 24 hours if urgent.
- Your side of the deal. The council asks owners to keep their own trees and hedges from overhanging and blocking footways and roads. A crown lift over the pavement is your job, not the council's.
Ash and old oaks. The strategy says ash is the city's most common tree, but few really old ash survive. Many are hollow by 150 years and prone to losing their crowns in the wind. A reduction can take weight off a tired crown. It also records 382 known English oaks with girths of 5 metres or more, many in old Arden parkland and hedgerows. With trees that old, the specialist may suggest a light reduction done in stages.
Nesting birds and bats. Work stops if it would disturb an active nest, and bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. See our guide on wildlife and tree work.
What the job involves
- Agreeing the target. You and the specialist agree how much height and spread to lose, and which limbs matter most.
- Paperwork. In a conservation area or for a TPO tree, the specialist helps you word the notice or application, and the work waits for it.
- Climbing and cutting. A climber works out along each limb, cutting back to a side branch that can take over, to BS 3998.
- Clearing up. Cuttings are lowered, chipped and removed, and the crown is checked for balance from the ground.
If the tree really has outgrown the garden, tree removal may be the better answer. For a tree that has been cut back to the same points before, pollarding may suit it.
Questions about crown reduction and tree pruning in Coventry
Do I need to give notice to reduce a tree in the Kenilworth Road conservation area?
Yes, if the tree is over the size threshold. Coventry says reducing the height or canopy of a tree in a conservation area needs six weeks' notice, TPO or not. Send it to both the conservation team and the trees team, then wait the six weeks before the work starts.
When does Coventry pollard the street trees on my road?
Coventry pollards street trees on a three- or five-year cycle, between December and March. Each winter it publishes the roads on the programme on its tree maintenance page. You may be asked to move your car while the contractor works.
Will Coventry thin a council tree that blocks light to my Earlsdon garden?
Probably not. Coventry says it doesn't have to prune or fell trees to improve light or a view. It cuts back overhanging branches only where they are an actionable nuisance, such as damage to a building. Report a concern through its tree issue form.
What should I ask before hiring someone to reduce a tree in Coventry?
Coventry's own advice is to ask for proof of insurance, and it recommends public liability cover of at least £5 million. Ask whether they work to BS 3998 and to see NPTC chainsaw certificates, which it calls compulsory. Reject anyone who won't give a written quote.