How much does tree surgery cost?

Getting a tree looked at by a professional in the UK rarely comes with a single price tag, because so much depends on the tree itself, where it stands, and what condition it is in. A small ornamental tree in an open back garden costs a fraction of what a mature specimen overhanging a neighbour's roof will cost to manage safely. The figures below are typical ranges gathered from UK tree care cost guides, and they are a starting point for budgeting rather than a fixed price, so it is always worth confirming with a written quote from a surgeon who has actually seen the tree.

Crown reduction, where the overall size of the canopy is cut back on the outer branches, commonly costs somewhere between £350 and £1,500 for a standard garden tree, with larger or more involved reductions running up to around £1,800. Related pruning work is priced on a similar scale: crown lifting, which removes the lower branches to raise clearance above a lawn, path or driveway, is typically £250 to £1,000, with a single easily accessible tree sometimes nearer £250 to £350; crown thinning, which removes selected branches to let more light and air through the canopy, tends to fall in the £350 to £1,000 range; and dead-wooding or crown cleaning, which strips out dead and diseased wood, is usually around £500 to £1,500 depending on the size of the tree and how much needs removing.

Felling a tree outright is generally priced by height and difficulty. A small tree under around 25 feet commonly costs £150 to £350 and can often be finished in half a day. A medium tree of roughly 25 to 50 feet typically runs to £200 to £750 and is usually a one-day job. A large tree of 50 to 75 feet tends to cost £650 to £1,200 and can take one to two days, and anything taller still, at 75 feet or more, commonly reaches £1,000 to £2,500 and may need two to five days of work, particularly if it has to be dismantled in sections rather than felled in one piece.

Stump removal is usually quoted separately from felling. Grinding a small stump down below ground level typically costs around £40 to £80, while full removal of a small stump, including digging it out, tends to be £150 to £200. Larger stumps, or jobs involving several stumps, commonly cost £80 to £350 for grinding alone and £200 to £350 for full removal, with the total often broken down into labour, machine hire or fuel, and disposal of the ground-up waste. Some homeowners opt for a chemical stump treatment instead, which is considerably cheaper but can take months rather than hours to have any effect.

Hedge cutting is priced on a smaller scale than tree work. A small hedge trim commonly costs around £40 to £75, a medium hedge £75 to £125, and a large or overgrown hedge £125 to £300, depending on length, height and how much growth needs to come off. Removing a hedge entirely, roots and all, is a bigger job again: a modest hedge of two to four metres typically costs £100 to £250, while a larger hedge of four metres or more can run to £250 to £400, plus extra if an excavator needs to be hired to help clear the roots.

Many tree surgeons price smaller jobs as day rates rather than itemising every cut. A solo operator commonly charges around £150 to £200 a day, while a two- or three-person crew with the equipment needed for felling or larger crown work typically costs £350 to £600 a day between them. Where a job is quoted this way, it is worth asking exactly what is included, since a day rate that excludes waste disposal can end up costing considerably more once arisings need to be chipped and carted away, commonly adding another £140 to £450 on top.

The reason two quotes for what looks like the same job can differ so much usually comes down to access and risk. A tree that can be reached easily with a vehicle and has a clear drop zone is straightforward to work on; one hemmed in by fences, close to a house or garden wall, or growing near power lines, takes far longer and needs more careful, and more expensive, techniques, sometimes including sectional dismantling by rope and harness or, occasionally, a crane. Species matters too, since some timber is heavier or more brittle to work with, and location plays a part, as quotes in London and the South East tend to run higher than in most other regions. Whether waste removal, stump treatment and full clean-up are included in the headline price, or charged as extras, is one of the most common reasons a quote looks cheaper than it actually turns out to be.

Because of all this variation, it is worth getting at least two or three written quotes for anything beyond very minor pruning, making sure each one covers the same scope of work, including waste disposal and stump treatment, so the figures can be compared properly rather than just the bottom line.

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