Crown reduction in Sutton Coldfield & Four Oaks

In Sutton Coldfield a crown reduction is often the way to keep a tree people like but can no longer live under. A century-old lime or beech that now shades the whole of a Four Oaks garden, a Scots pine leaning over a Little Aston roof, an oak whose limbs reach the bedroom windows: the usual answer is a smaller, lighter crown rather than a felling.

It's also the answer the councils here are most likely to accept. But in a conservation area the notice rules apply to pruning as well as felling, and the three councils in this patch each handle it their own way.

Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local tree surgeon who covers B72 to B76 and WS9, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.

What crown reduction costs in Sutton Coldfield

Prices include taking the cuttings away. Many Four Oaks and Little Aston jobs fall in the large band or go to a free survey, because the trees are tall and often hang over a roof. A reduction or crown lift on a cherry, birch or apple in a Boldmere, Maney or Wylde Green garden is usually a small or medium job priced from photos. The crown reduction cost guide has worked examples.

What pushes the price up here

• Height and the roofline. Trees over 15 metres, or overhanging a roof, are priced after a free survey. Plenty of the old limes, oaks and pines here are both.
• Long carries. If the tree is more than 20 metres from the van, or everything goes through the house, add about 15%.
• Lowering over glass. Branches above a conservatory or greenhouse are lowered on ropes rather than dropped, which takes longer.
• Several trees at once. 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.

Pruning notices: one patch, three councils

The law on conservation-area trees covers topping and lopping, not just cutting down, so a crown reduction needs the same notice as a felling.

Birmingham: Four Oaks, Anchorage Road and High Street. Give six weeks' written notice for any tree with a trunk over 75mm across at 1.5 metres, on the council's tree works consent form or in a letter with the same details. If the tree has its own TPO, you apply for consent instead. Birmingham says that includes branches encroaching over your boundary, which you could normally cut back under common law.

Little Aston (Lichfield District). You notify Lichfield online through its tree portal, free of charge. An arboricultural officer assesses the notice, often without a site visit for simple work. The council then consults ward councillors, which normally takes two weeks, and they can call it in to planning committee. Don't start until six weeks have passed or the council confirms it has no objection. Lichfield also expects tree work to follow British Standard BS 3998:2010 and warns that ignoring it on a protected tree could lead to prosecution of the tree surgeon or the owner.

Aldridge, Streetly and Walsall Wood (Walsall). Walsall says it will not sanction topping, which it calls neither sustainable nor safe. It points owners of protected trees towards crown thinning or lifting instead, or replacing a tree with one that stays smaller. One form covers both TPO and conservation-area trees.

Old trees, close houses

Lichfield's appraisal of Little Aston describes a problem found all over Sutton Coldfield. Houses were built close to retained trees, and the result has often been the slow decline of the tree or "continual requests for pruning which have been hard to refuse". The same appraisal records oaks and beeches grown as timber, with long straight stems and even crowns, and Scots pines more than 100 years old.

For trees like these, a moderate reduction repeated every few years usually suits them better than one heavy cut. Heavy cuts can stress a mature tree and bring on decay or weak regrowth, so the specialist may suggest reducing in stages, or a lighter reduction plus a crown lift to clear the roof. If anyone offers to "take the top out", that is topping. Our guide to crown reduction, pollarding and topping explains the difference.

Sutton Park and street trees

Sutton Park is a National Nature Reserve, and Birmingham City Council looks after its trees, as it does the trees on Sutton Coldfield's pavements and verges. If one overhangs your garden, the council says you can cut it back to your boundary from your own side, unless it has a TPO or is in a conservation area. The cuttings are yours to dispose of, not to leave on council land.

The council won't prune its trees because they block light or TV reception. It works on them when they are dead, diseased, dangerous or getting in the way of roads, paths, street lights or signs.

Timing and nesting birds

It's an offence to damage or destroy a wild bird's nest while it is in use or being built. The specialist checks the crown for nests before any spring or summer cut and may suggest waiting until autumn. Some species have their own timing: cherries are usually pruned in summer to reduce the risk of silver leaf, and birch and maples are better left until summer or early autumn because they bleed sap. In a conservation area, add the six-week notice to whatever season you're aiming for.

What the job involves

1. Agreeing the aim. You and the specialist agree how much height and spread to lose, and which limbs matter most, such as those over the roof.
2. Notice or consent. The specialist confirms which council covers you and helps you give notice or apply, then waits for the period to run.
3. Climbing and cutting. A climber works out along the limbs, shortening each one back to a side branch that can take over as the new tip, in line with BS 3998:2010.
4. Lowering and clearing. Cut material is lowered where needed, chipped and taken away, and the crown is checked from the ground for balance.

If a tree is beyond saving, see tree removal.