Crown reduction in North Birmingham

In North Birmingham, crown work is mostly about light and space. A sycamore that has grown over a narrow Kingstanding garden. A plum or apple in Erdington that hasn't been pruned in years. A big tree in a Handsworth Wood front garden reaching over the pavement. A reduction, lift or thin lets the light back in without losing the tree.

Many of the trees casting the most shade aren't yours, though. They are street trees or trees in parks and on council land, and what you can do about them depends on which of three councils owns them.

Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local tree surgeon who covers B6, B20, B23, B24, B42, B43 and B44, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.

What crown reduction costs in North Birmingham

Most jobs here are small or medium garden trees, priced from photos and including taking the cuttings away. Crown lifting two medium sycamores over a drive comes to about £500–£720. Very small jobs, such as thinning a fruit tree when you keep the chippings, hit the minimum charge of about £150. The crown reduction cost guide has more examples.

What pushes the price up here

• Carrying it all out. If the cuttings go through the house or a shared entry, or the tree is more than 20 metres from the van, add about 15%.
• Over the road or pavement. Trees overhanging a road or pavement, a roof or overhead cables are priced after a free survey, because the work may need traffic management.
• Lowering over sheds and extensions. In a small garden, branches over a greenhouse or a neighbour's extension have to be lowered on ropes.
• Several trees. Two or three trees cost about 1.8 times one; four or more about 2.5 times.
• Keeping the chippings. Leaving them for your borders takes about £75 off.

Council trees: what they will and won't prune

Birmingham and Sandwell have near-identical rules. Neither will prune or fell a council tree because it blocks sunlight or TV reception, and pruning won't be done to stop bird droppings, sap or pollen. Both act when a tree is dead, diseased, dangerous, damaging property, or getting in the way of roads, paths, street lights, signs or traffic lights.

You can cut overhanging branches from a council tree back to your boundary, working from your own side, unless the tree is protected. Sandwell says it can't fund or do this work for you, and both councils say the cuttings are yours to dispose of, not to leave on council land. See cutting a neighbour's overhanging branches.

Sandwell adopted a trees strategy in February 2023. It is inspecting an estimated 80,000 trees in its highest-risk areas, mostly followed by pruning, and aims to plant at least 15,000 new trees by 2030.

Walsall's highway tree assessments, including a 2025 one in Pheasey, use a guide that trees shouldn't overhang the kerb line below 2.5 metres, rising to 4.5 metres on bus routes, citing section 154 of the Highways Act. If your own tree hangs over the road, a crown lift to that height keeps it clear of vans and buses.

Protected trees and the no-topping rule

Most gardens here aren't in a conservation area, so the question is usually whether a tree has a TPO.

Birmingham. A TPO tree needs a consent application even for branches over your boundary, which you'd normally be entitled to cut under common law. Apply through the Planning Portal. There's no fee, and the council aims to decide within 6 to 8 weeks. In the Aston Hall and Church conservation area in B6, pruning any tree over 75mm across at 1.5 metres needs six weeks' notice.

Walsall. Walsall says it will not sanction topping, which it calls neither sustainable nor safe, and suggests crown thinning or lifting instead. Its Great Barr conservation area takes in the old Great Barr Hall estate, where the council's draft appraisal lists a horse chestnut avenue from Merrion's Wood and beeches planted around the chapel among the historic planting. Inside the conservation area, pruning needs six weeks' notice.

Sandwell. None of Sandwell's nine conservation areas is in Hamstead or its part of Great Barr. Check for a TPO on the council's public access planning system before any work.

If a quote mentions "topping" or "lopping" to a set height, ask how the cuts will be made. Our guide to crown reduction, pollarding and topping explains why topping causes weak regrowth.

Timing, fruit trees and nesting birds

It's an offence to damage or destroy a wild bird's nest while it is in use or being built, so the specialist checks the crown before any spring or summer work. If you have a fruit tree, timing matters: plums and cherries are usually pruned in summer to reduce the risk of silver leaf disease. Birch and maples are better cut in summer or early autumn, because they bleed sap if cut in late winter and spring.

What the job involves

1. Agreeing the aim. More light, clearance over a drive or pavement, or a smaller tree. You agree what comes off and which branches matter most.
2. Checks. The specialist confirms which council covers you, whether the tree is protected and whether there are nesting birds.
3. Climbing and cutting. Each branch is shortened back to a side branch that can take over as the new tip, avoiding stubs and cutting just outside the branch collar.
4. Clearing. Cuttings are lowered, chipped and carried out, and the crown is checked from the ground for balance.

If a tree is too far gone, tree removal may be the answer. A tree that was pollarded in the past is usually best kept on pollarding.