Tree Surgeon Meopham

Employing unqualified personnel for tree work or attempting to do the work on your own, could cause damage to property, harm your trees, or even be life threatening. However, tree work isn't a safe undertaking, even for qualified tree surgeons, who know about all the risks. The reality is that tree surgery is one of the most dangerous jobs in the UK, with an average of 140 major injuries and 3 deaths each year within the industry, so it's certainly not safe work for amateurs to do.

There is also a danger to life from poorly maintained or damaged trees in Meopham, seeing as around 5 people a year are killed in Britain by falling trees or branches. If there is an injury, or damage to property due to you hiring someone to carry out tree work, you could be liable for any compensation to any third-party. These are the reasons why it is important to retain the services of a trained tree surgeon to undertake the work on your trees in Meopham. (The source of the above figures was HSE UK).

FINDING A TREE SURGEON IN MEOPHAM - There are 2 main professional industry bodies, at least one of which a certified tree surgeon in Meopham should be a signed up member of. The membership and professional status of any tree surgeon in Meopham can be checked on the websites of both the Arboricultural Association (AA) and the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). This webpage enables you to check out if any specific local tree surgeon has recognised ARB Approved Contractor status, and has membership of either of these associations.

You will be able to communicate with these professional associations for assistance in arbitration and for advice and help, if an issue springs up at any point during the work, or after it has been finished.

You should courteously decline the offer of a price quote from anyone who you can't find on this directory list, and continue your search for a fully qualified and approved contractor. It's wise to get at least three different quotes from various companies in and around Meopham, when you've carefully checked their professional qualifications and memberships. You should ask the below questions whilst obtaining the quotes, making it crystal clear that you need them to provide the answers due to the risks of the work involved:

• Can you show documentary verification of your professional membership, qualifications and a NPTC/LANTRA certificate for the use of a chainsaw? Any operative/tree surgeon using a chainsaw, must by law have gained NPTC/LANTRA certification. A competent tree surgeon in Meopham may hold City & Guilds National Diplomas and Certificates in Arboriculture.
• Do you supply written quotations? Verbal quotes alone aren't satisfactory. Always try to get a written quote.
• Precisely what is your level of insurance cover? Your tree surgeon should be able to produce an insurance certificate covering at the least five million pounds public liability, as recommended by the AA and ISA.
• Can I check the standard of your tree work by contacting a person you've worked for recently? It's recommended that you perform an independent check of any recent work.

The written quote must include easy to follow details about the tree work being undertaken. Who's responsible for the removal of waste, tree branches and stumps should be stated, as should specifics of any trees which may be protected in law, and the steps required to obtain permission to carry out work on them. You should also make certain VAT has been included on the quotation. It's very important that only competent tradespeople are hired to work on your property and trees, and this is wholly your responsibility.

PRIOR TO WORK COMMENCING - The tree surgeon that you have selected in Meopham, will be able to investigate whether any of the trees on your property are covered by a tree protection order (TPO), and will consult with the local authority to find out if the go-ahead for any tree work is forthcoming. To ensure public safety, even protected trees need maintenance in order to cut back old or damaged wood, so discovering that a tree is protected does not imply that you are unable to carry out essential work.

If your property in Meopham is within a designated conservation area, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) will require a minimum of six weeks written notice of any tree work you are intending to do. This is only required for trees with a stem diameter of over 75mm in diameter, at a point 1.5 metres above ground level. Notice is also not required if thinning or pruning of a protected tree's branches is needed in order to sustain and promote growth.

Your chosen Meopham tree surgeon will determine the remedial treatment needed and how best to achieve the required outcome in a safe manner after doing a complete assessment of your trees health. Your property, public areas and any section of a neighbour's property that could be affected by falling debris will all be given a full risk assessment. At this stage, the amount of workforce required and the level of protection needed will also be ascertained. This could include a number of safety precautions as well as PPE to guarantee the safety of the general public and adjacent property.

ON THE DAY OF WORK - Before any tree felling, cutting of branches or climbing commences, cones, safety measures and barriers will be put in place to keep passers-by and unauthorised persons away from the area of work. If there's any risk of falling debris onto a public highway, traffic might have to be temporarily stopped.

Depending on the type of work required a tree surgeon will need varying degrees of protection. When doing chainsaw work, they will as a bare minimum be wearing protective clothing to prevent serious cutting injuries to the legs, torso and hands. All operatives involved in the work must wear high-vis clothing, and head and eye protection, at all times.

Ladders and associated climbing equipment will need to be deployed if working at height is involved, and to help with the removal of high branches and heavy pieces of tree trunk, additional operatives will be needed. For taking waste away from the work area, a truck or skip will be stationed as close to the work area as possible. This requirement for unhindered access is as good a reason as any for informing your next door neighbours of the intended work.

UPON COMPLETION OF WORK - Upon completion of all the work, the area can be cleared of all debris, and all of the waste materials can be hauled away. Your tree surgeon should then sign off and present you with a certificate of work, especially where the trees are under a protection order. Any safety measures that were put in public areas can then be removed, with highways and paths being re-opened.

If you have any problems or issues with the finished work, you should first take them up with the tree surgeon in order that they can be rectified straight away. If your tree surgeon is a registered member of a professional trade association, and any further arbitration is required, you can get guidance and advice from the ISA or AA so as to come to an acceptable conclusion.

Local Meopham tree surgeons will likely have the dialling code 01474 and the postcode DA13. They will work in Meopham itself, along with nearby areas like Vigo, Cuxton, Horton Kirby, West Kingsdown, Luddesdown, Higham, New Ash Green, Stanstead, Shorne, Istead Rise, Ash, Hartley, Trottiscliffe, Upper Halling, Longfield, and these postcodes: DA13 0ER, DA13 0QH, DA13 0UN, DA13 0HH, DA13 0SU, DA13 0EJ, DA13 0DW, DA13 0AL, DA13 0UE, DA13 0DQ.

If you need this sort of assistance it is certainly best to bring in a competent local tree surgeon. Meopham residents can benefit greatly from the knowledge and expertise that are the trademark of a trained professional.

Storm Damage Prevention Meopham

While we are all aware of the power of Mother Nature, larger trees seem sturdy, strong and able to withstand more or less anything. Some species of trees can in fact live and continue to grow for several hundred years and will happily do so in most conditions.

Extreme weather can however cause substantial damage to trees, and together with the ever present danger of falling tree limbs and branches, trees can even fall down completely in certain situations. Trees have got one main weather related enemy, and that is high winds. As extreme weather events and severe storms become more and more commonplace with climate change, this type of damage will happen with greater frequency in Meopham. Other issues can be heavy winter snow, and saturated soil during extended periods of rain or floods.

To trim and remove any dead or overhanging branches that may cause a problem in times of severe weather, it's a good idea to get a qualified Meopham tree surgeon to examine your trees on a regular basis.

Taller trees can also be fitted with lightning rods, copper conductors, or other protection systems, to stop them being struck by lightning and to prevent nearby buildings and property being affected by jumps or "arcs". A tree can be killed or seriously weakened by a lightning strike, and even when the effect is not instantly obvious, the tree will be more vulnerable to attack by disease and pests. While you may not imagine that lightning is that common in Meopham, each year around 300,000 strikes are recorded throughout the UK.

To safeguard your trees from being damaged by storms and lower the chances of severe consequences should an unstable tree topple over as a result of bad weather, ask your local Meopham tree surgery firm what they can do.

Chainsaws in Tree Surgery

The most commonplace tool that Meopham tree surgeons use is the chainsaw. It's a versatile and effective tool, but can be highly dangerous in unskilled hands. Petrol chainsaws are the most preferred by tree care professionals, because of their ease of use and greater mobility, although corded electric versions are available, and battery operated chainsaws are becoming more popular in certain situations. For substantial tree work, the only realistic choice is to use petrol chainsaws, given that they are able to slice through trunks and branches of any dimensions, and are extremely robust and powerful.

Basically, a chainsaw is composed of a motor-driven chain which has a set of sharp teeth for cutting through wood and branches. For the different procedures they perform, there are various styles of chainsaw, top-handled for working at height (and which can be used with one hand if required), rear-handled for work at ground level (two handed) and pole saws for hard to reach branches and long distance pruning.

Although carrying a spinning blade while balancing precariously high up in a tree is definitely not the safest job in the world, it is rare to see a tree surgeon in Meopham who does not use a chainsaw in their daily activities. One of the key conditions for gaining membership of the Arboricultural Association (AA), is that professional tree surgeons need to be trained in the maintenance and safe use of chainsaws.

Although there are countless different chainsaw makes and models available to tree surgery specialists, the most popular ones the United Kingdom are Stihl, Hyundai, Husqvarna and Makita.

Wood Chipping Meopham

So as to process the large amount of branches, vegetation and tree limbs that are the result of their work, most Meopham tree surgeons will make use of wood chipping machinery. These awesome wood chipping systems can munch up as much as 40 tonnes of material every hour, depending on the equipment that is being used, however the most commonly used devices will process closer to 5 tons each hour.

As well as providing a valuable material that can be used for various purposes including; mushroom cultivation, wood pulp, ecosystem restoration, biomass solid fuel, mulch, garden walkways, weed prevention and landscaping, chipping down waste material in this way makes it easier to transport.

Typically, tree surgeons in Meopham will cart away all the wood chippings that result from your tree surgery project, unless of course you need them for one of the previously mentioned uses, when they will usually be happy to let you have some or all of them. Tree surgeons are a reliable source for wood chippings which you can use throughout your garden, even if you don't require any tree surgery work doing on your property in Meopham. Certain tree surgeons will charge you for wood chips, especially if you need them to be delivered, others will allow you to have them for free.

Forest Master, Timberwolf, T-Mech and Forst, are among the best known brands of wood chipping equipment. (Tags: Wood Chippers Meopham, Wood Chipping Meopham, Wood Chipping Services Meopham, Wood Chips Meopham).

Tree Pollarding Meopham

When a tree has appreciably gotten too big for its present surroundings, it can be greatly reduced in size by using a procedure referred to as "pollarding". It can at times be employed for aesthetic or functional reasons to mould a tree into a specific form. It is quite often seen on trees that serve as borders or hedgerows, and trees which grow beside roads in Meopham. For people who like trees it isn't a popular practice, given that the result is inclined to be somewhat harsh and naked, with the overall appearance of being virtually lifeless. Tree species such as maples, sycamores, limes, planes, beeches, oaks and horse chestnuts are typical contenders for pollarding, and the advantageous element of this process is that trees which may otherwise have to be removed can be preserved for the enjoyment of all. (Tags: Tree Pollarding Meopham, Pollarding Meopham, Tree Pruning Meopham)

Dutch Elm Disease

Destroying tree stocks and wiping out tens of millons of precious elm trees right through the United Kingdom over the last 50 yrs or so, Dutch Elm Disease (Ophiostoma novo-ulmi) isn't so prevalent now, as it previously was. Spread by the elm bark beetle (especially the Scolytus genus) and caused by the fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, Dutch Elm Disease (DED) was inadvertently introduced into Great Britain from Canada in the late nineteen sixties.

After arriving, it was spread rapidly through the transportation of elm products like bark mulch, elm crates, saplings, and logs with the bark on. DED didn't only affect Great Britain, but also decimated the stocks of elms in mainland Europe, North America and New Zealand, it is believed to have originally come from Asia.

Normally first showing up in early summer, the recognisable symptoms of DED disease are:

• Shoots that die back from the tip.
• Dark streaks underneath the bark of twigs.
• Twigs turning into a "shepherd's crook".
• Clusters of yellow leaves that wilt and then fall.

The chopping down of infected, dead and dying trees, has effectively removed the favourite habitat of the beetle, and over the last few years the spread of this disease has been slowed down. New plants have also been propagated from elms that have so far proved resistant.

You can speak to your neighbourhood tree surgeon for advice, if you suspect you may have infected elm trees in your garden in Meopham, or you could ask for a diagnosis from the Tree Health Diagnostic & Advisory Service (THDAS), for which there is a charge.

Accidents Through Tree Surgery

As was stated earlier, the work that tree care professionals in Meopham undertake, involves a high level of danger. When work is being undertaken on trees, there is a high risk of injuries to both operatives, co-workers and passers-by, so all reasonable safety measures should be taken.

As reported by figures gathered by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the use of chainsaws, falls from trees, and being struck by a falling branch or tree are responsible for a large majority of fatal and serious injuries. The reality is that those working in tree care have a higher likelihood of being seriously injured than those in the construction industry.

The most frequent tree surgery accidents when it comes to insurance claims, involve lifting injuries, being struck by objects (grapple hooks, branches, cranes, trees, ropes etc) and falling from ladders.

This all underlines the importance of choosing a qualified Meopham tree surgeon to do any work on your trees. In the tree care sector, the majority of accidents can be attributed to unskilled workers attempting tasks that they aren't trained to do, or capable of. Using an experienced and trustworthy company which has been trading in the Meopham area for a number of years, is the simplest way to sidestep such problems, and get your tree work completed correctly and safely.

Eco-Plugging Meopham

If you have large stumps in your garden that need to be removed, the traditional procedure used by most Meopham tree surgeons is stump grinding. There is however a more affordable solution to this problem nowadays, which is termed "eco-plugging", and this is growing in popularity. It's not simply the fact that eco-plugging is less expensive that makes it an attractive alternative for stump removal, but also that it can be employed in awkward and hard-to-reach locations that are challenging to access with bulky stump grinding machines.

Eco-plugging is an extremely effective treatment for killing tree stumps and has no effect on any nearby vegetation and trees. Eco-plugs eliminate the stump by killing off the entire root system, and can be employed in any weather, and throughout the year. Eco-plugs contain a form of granular glyphosate herbicide which can be used on a variety of tree species, and is 95-100 percent effective. (Tags: Eco-Plugging Meopham, Eco-Plugs Meopham, Eco-Plugging Tree Stumps Meopham, Eco-Plug Treatments Meopham).

Problems With Tree Roots Meopham

When they are growing too near to your house in Meopham, some large trees have exceptionally invasive roots, and can be troublesome. Among the most commonplace problems are: blocked drains, cracked patios and damaged foundations. Some species of trees that have extremely invasive roots include sycamores, elms, maples and willows.

Issues can be averted down the line, if you make certain that you plant new trees as far as possible away from your house, your sewerage system, paths and patios. If some of these issues are already being caused by established trees which are growing too near to your house, you should get in touch with a tree surgeon in Meopham for help and advice.

You shouldn't attempt to resolve this yourself by simply cutting out the invasive roots, as this could significantly threaten the tree's health or even kill it. So that any damage to property is reduced, and the tree is still able to get sufficient water and food to survive and thrive, an established arborist in Meopham will know exactly which roots can be safely cut back, and which roots should be left in place.

Shrub and tree roots commonly cause structural issues in underground drains, because sewerage lines provide a constant source of nutrients and moisture. Blockages and joint failure can arise, when tiny roots grow into the joints of a drainage system, establish themselves and develop into massive root balls. Many Meopham tree surgeons will offer specialised root removal services, which will probably include the use of electro-mechanical equipment, manual rod clearance or high pressure jetting. Invasive root removal services are also available in Vigo, Cuxton, Horton Kirby, West Kingsdown, Luddesdown, Higham, New Ash Green, Stanstead, Shorne, Istead Rise, Ash, Hartley, Trottiscliffe, Upper Halling, Longfield, and in Meopham itself.

Tree Surgery Tasks Meopham

Meopham tree surgeons will likely help with tree topping, tree transplanting in Meopham, safety inspections in Meopham, drop crotching, crown lifting, tree bracing, tree lightening protection in Meopham, tree pollarding, tree watering, tree felling Meopham, tree fertilising in Meopham, cut sealing, tree surveys, dead wood removal, air spading, cable bracing, crown thinning, tree reduction Meopham, fruit tree pruning, vegetation management Meopham, shrub maintenance, woodland clearance, root pruning, hedge reduction, hedge lowering, crown cleaning, woodland management Meopham, tree staking, tree care, tree work Meopham and other tree surgeon services in Meopham, Kent. Listed are just a small portion of the activities that are accomplished by a local tree surgeon. Meopham professionals will tell you about their full range of services.

Tree Surgeons Nearby

Also find: Horton Kirby tree surgeon, Upper Halling tree surgeon, Vigo tree surgeon, Cuxton tree surgeon, Higham tree surgeon, Stanstead tree surgeon, Shorne tree surgeon, Longfield tree surgeon, Trottiscliffe tree surgeon, Istead Rise tree surgeon, Luddesdown tree surgeon and more. Pretty much all of these towns and villages are catered for by local tree surgeons. Residents in these areas can get quotations for tree surgery by clicking here.

Tree Care Services Meopham

Find a Tree Surgeon in Meopham Here

• Meopham Tree Replanting
• Meopham Shrub Maintenance
• Meopham Woodland Clearance
• Meopham Tree Topping
• Meopham Tree Surveys
• Meopham Arboriculture
• Meopham Tree Lopping
• Meopham Tree Management
• Meopham Stump Treatment
• Meopham Tree Dismantling
• Meopham Tree Watering
• Meopham Root Removal
• Meopham Eco-Plugging
• Meopham Crown Reduction

If you need local Meopham information check here

Tree Surgery DA13 area, 01474.

DA13 - Stump Grinding Meopham - Tree Surgeons Meopham - Tree Removal Meopham - Crown Thinning Meopham - Root Removal Meopham - Tree Surgery Meopham - Arboriculturalist Meopham - 01474