Crown reduction in Dudley & Stourbridge

A lot of the pruning in Stourbridge, Oldswinford, Wollaston and Norton is on big Victorian garden trees: lime, horse chestnut, beech and the odd cedar, now well above the roofline and shading most of a long garden. Elsewhere, in Kingswinford, Brierley Hill and Sedgley, it is more often a sycamore or birch that has outgrown a semi's back garden, or branches from a council tree hanging over the fence.

In most of these cases the tree can stay. A crown reduction makes it smaller all round while keeping its shape, and a crown lift or thin lets light through without changing its height.

Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local tree surgeon who covers DY1 to DY9, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.

What crown reduction costs in Dudley & Stourbridge

Prices include chipping and taking away the cuttings. A crown lift over a Kingswinford drive or a light thin on a Wordsley birch usually sits in the right-hand column. The old limes and chestnuts in Oldswinford and Norton are often over 15 metres, so they are priced after a free survey. The crown reduction cost guide goes into more detail.

What pushes the price up here

• How much comes off. A light reduction on a medium tree is quicker than a heavy one and leaves less waste.
• What's underneath. Branches over a conservatory, greenhouse or a neighbour's roof have to be lowered on ropes rather than dropped.
• Access. If the cuttings have to go out through a shared entry or the house, or the tree is more than 20 metres from the van, expect around 15% on top. Keeping the chippings takes about £75 off.
• More than one tree. Two or three trees cost about 1.8 times one, and four or more about 2.5 times.
• Survey jobs. Trees over 15m, overhanging a roof, near overhead cables or over a road are priced after a visit, as is any job likely to pass £1,200.

Pruning in Dudley's conservation areas

The six-week notice isn't only for felling. Dudley's list of tree work that needs notice in a conservation area includes topping, lopping and root pruning, as well as cutting down. It applies to any tree with a trunk over 75mm across, measured 1.5 metres above the ground. For a multi-stemmed tree, the exemption only applies if every stem is under that size. Garden hedges and shrubs don't need notice.

In this patch that covers trees in Church Road and Love Lane at Oldswinford, Wollaston, High Street in Stourbridge, The Village at Kingswinford, Wordsley Church and All Saints at Sedgley, among others. Dudley says it will reply in writing before the six weeks are up, and the agreed work then has to be done within two years.

A tree with its own TPO needs consent before any pruning. Taking dead wood out of an otherwise healthy protected tree is covered by the exemption for dead and dangerous wood. Dudley still says it is good practice to tell the council at least five days before.

Dudley's guidance also warns that trees are easily damaged by poor or ill-advised work, and strongly advises using a professional. That is the case against topping, which leaves big wounds and a mass of weak regrowth. Our guide to crown reduction, pollarding and topping explains the difference.

Council trees, roads and next door's branches

Council trees. Street trees and trees on council land belong to Dudley Council, not to the house in front of them. Under its Tree Strategy, the council won't prune them because of birds, honeydew, leaf fall, falling fruit, loss of light, TV reception or solar panels. It will act where a tree blocks a footpath or road, touches a building or is dangerous.

Overhanging branches. You have a common law right to cut branches back to your boundary, as long as the tree isn't protected by a TPO or in a conservation area. That includes the roots under your land. You can't go onto the neighbour's land to do it. For a private tree, offer the owner the cuttings. Dudley says it doesn't want branches from its own trees back and asks you to use your green bin. You also owe the tree a duty of care: if the work kills it or makes it dangerous, you may be liable.

Branches over the road. Owners have to keep reasonable clearance over the public highway, which Dudley says usually means 2.5 metres above a footway and 5.5 metres above a road. Dudley can require you to cut back a tree that overhangs. That duty is one of the few cases where a protected tree can be pruned without consent.

Nesting birds and bats

Dudley points out that bat roosts and wild birds' nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, so work on a tree with an active nest may have to be delayed. Big old trees can hold roosts in cracks and cavities, so the specialist checks before climbing. See our guide to wildlife and bats in tree work.

What the job involves

1. Agreeing the target. You and the specialist agree how much height and spread to lose. For a conservation area tree, that becomes the description in your notice.
2. Climbing in. A climber sets a rope high in the tree and works out along the limbs.
3. Cutting to growth points. Each branch is shortened back to a smaller side branch, following the BS 3998:2010 standard, with no stubs left.
4. Clearing up. Cuttings are lowered, chipped and taken away, unless you keep the chippings.

If a tree is past saving, tree removal is the alternative. For trees cut back to the same framework every few years, see pollarding.