Tree Surgery in County Antrim

The decision to purchase a property may not come with trees as an influencing factor. However, when the trees start to get overgrown or appears sick you will have to consider the regulatory status which may affect your ability to prune, fell or remove them.

First and foremost, the owner of the tree must be determined and this is the individual who owns the land on which the tree was originally planted. However, if you’re not the owner but the tree overhangs your land you’re allowed to cut the branches back up to the boundary, if the tree is unprotected. In such cases, you normally do not need to seek the consent of the original tree owner or neighbouring land owner to perform the works to the tree. But the branches and fruits on them ( if any) still remains that of the land owner and they’re to be returned to them if necessary.

In situations whereby you’re the owner of the tree, you’re required to determine whether or not your tree is protected by a Tree Protection Order ( TPO) before any action can be taken. The main goal of a Tree Protection Order is to provide protection to trees which are considered to deliver amenity values to the general public. In other words, if your tree can be viewed by the public and enjoyed from outside your garden’s confines then there’s a high possibility that it’s subjected to a TPO.

To confirm whether or not your tree is subjected to a TPO, you can check with your local planning authority (LPA). However, there are some local council websites that displays all TPOs registered within their jurisdiction.

Do you have a large tree on your property and wondering how much it would cost to have it totally removed? If yes, then you’ve come to the right place. Generally, the average cost of a tree removal can widely range due to a number of reasons which includes the size, heigh, diameter, location in the garden as well as the type of the tree. And as you would have expected, the larger your tree is the more you’re definitely going to pay to have it completely removed. While being large, another important factor that influences the price is the ease of access. This means that the more difficult it is to get to the tree the more strenuous and longer it’ll take to be felled, hence the more the price that’s likely to be charged when compared to a similar-sized tree which is more accessible.

Generally for a day’s work, a tree surgeon will charge within the range of £150 to £200, and will usually work with one or two general labourer. As a result, you can expect to pay about £300 to £500 in a day as cost of labour if there happens to be up to three labourers.

In short, to cut down a large tree of about 50 feet to 75 feet, this will usually take about one to two days and cost within the range of £650 to £1,200. Meanwhile an extra large tree which is beyond 75 feet will take about 2 to 5 days to cut down and cost within the range of £1,000 to £2,500. However, you should have it in mind that the price that will be charged will be based on a number of factors like the overhang, tree type, access, disposal, closeness to public footpath or road and more.

Although we advocate non-removal of trees, but we also know for a fact that this isn’t always possible especially when it involves safety challenges or damage to property. If you’re looking to remove a tree on your property, then you should probably confirm whether or not you’d require a council approval.

In the UK, if the tree you want removed has a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) placed on it, then before you’ll be able to perform any sort of work to the tree ( be it cutting a branch or felling/ removing the tree), you must obtain a permission from the council.

The Tree Preservation Order is created by local planning authorities such as a district, borough or national park with the aim of providing adequate protection to trees which provide amenity values to the public. Any act to the TPO protected tree such as cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilful damage considered a criminal offence. In other words, if the tree on your property is visible and is enjoyed by the public then there’s a possibility that there’s a TPO placed on it. To confirm whether or not this is the case, you can reach out to your local council’s tree officer for more information.

You will need to fill out an application form and submit to your local authority in order to request permission of remove a tree. In the event whereby you happen to reside in a Conservation Area, the same rules applies as TPO-placed trees but you don’t necessarily need to have TPO placed on them.

If the tree is in your garden without a TPO placed on it and you do not live in a Conservation Area, then you would not need to apply for permission to have it removed.

Even if your trees are not obviously damaged or diseased, tree surgeons can carry out surveys to determine if there is any work that needs to be carried out. This work could range from removing dead branches, pruning to promote growth, or even crown works which could open up more light into your property by altering the height and size of nearby trees.