Westham Tree Surgeon East Sussex: A vital feature of many gardens and properties in Westham, trees add structure, style and substance to what can at times be an unexciting and two dimensional landscape. However, when trees are poorly maintained or have been affected by extreme weather events like storms or flooding, issues may arise. If you need to have work completed on your trees, it's the safest option to consult a trained tree surgeon in Westham, for their advice prior to any work.
There's a big risk of damaging property, trees or even life, for folks in Westham who attempt to do tree work by themselves, or by hiring a non-qualified operative. However, tree work isn't a safe vocation, even for trained tree surgeons, who are aware of all the risks. There are an average of three deaths and one hundred and forty serious injuries per year within the profession, making it one of the most dangerous jobs in the United Kingdom and definitely not for amateurs to try.
With falling branches and trees causing around five deaths a year in the United Kingdom, a threat to life can even be presented by a damaged or poorly maintained tree. If you employ someone to perform tree work and subsequently an injury occurs, or property is damaged, you may well be liable to third-party compensation claims. These are just some of the reasons why it is vitally important to hire a professional tree surgeon to do the work on your trees in Westham. (Source - HSE).
PICKING A TREE SURGEON IN WESTHAM - There are 2 trade bodies that an experienced Westham tree surgeon should really be an approved member of. The websites of either the ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) or the AA (Arboricultural Association) allow you to check up on the professional status and membership of any tree surgeon in Westham. To determine whether any specific tree surgeon has recognised Approved ARB Contractor status and has membership of either of these associations, you can do a search on this website.
If there's a problem during or after any tree work has been carried out you will be able to get in touch with these industry bodies for mediation and for help and advice at any stage.
If a tree surgeon offers you a price quote for any tree work and you cannot find them on this directory list, you should courteously decline their offer and find an approved contractor. As soon as their qualifications and professional associations have been diligently checked, you should try to get a minimum of three quotations from different companies in the Westham area. You should ask the questions below whilst getting these quotes, making it crystal clear that you need to know the answers due to the risks involved in tree surgery work:
- What insurance cover is provided? As stated by the AA and ISA, your tree surgeon should be able to show you a certificate covering no less than £5 Million public liability insurance.
- Can you show documents to show that you've got the appropriate qualifications, membership of the AA or ISA, and also a certificate for the use of a chainsaw from the NPTC/LANTRA? Any tree worker who uses a chainsaw, must by law hold NPTC/LANTRA certification. City and Guilds National Diplomas and Certificates in Arboriculture are qualifications that might be held by a trained tree surgeon in Westham.
- Is It Possible To contact a recent person you've worked for so that I can assess the standard of your tree work? Independently checking any recent work is always recommended.
- Do you give quotations in writing? You must NEVER settle for just a verbal quote. Only ever accept a quote in writing.
Clear and concise details about all the work that is being undertaken should be included on the written quotation. It should include details about any trees which might be protected, and the necessary steps to obtain permission to carry out work on them, and also state whose responsibility it is to remove debris, tree branches and stumps. You should also make sure VAT has been included on the quote unless you are a commercial business. Recognising that you have a responsibility to hire only qualified people to work on your property and trees, is crucial. This is laid out by the "Common law duty of care responsibilities under the Occupier's Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984."
PRIOR TO WORK BEGINNING - Making enquiries into the possibility of any of your trees being protected, your chosen Westham tree surgeon should ensure that any work gets the green light from the relevant local authority department. Discovering that a tree has protected status doesn't mean that work cannot be carried out, as even protected trees need to be maintained in order to cut back old or dead wood and ensure public safety.
If your property in Westham is located within a conservation area, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) will require no less than 6 weeks written notice of any planned tree work. This is only required for trees with a trunk diameter of over seventy five millimetres in diameter, at a point 1.5 metres from ground level. Also, it's not necessary to give notice if a protected tree's branches need pruning or thinning simply to encourage and sustain growth.
On site they'll perform a thorough assessment of your trees and determine the required remedial treatment and how best and safely to achieve the required outcome. Your property, public spaces and any parts of neighbouring properties that could be impacted by falling branches and debris will all be given a risk assessment. This stage will also determine the level of protection needed and the quantity of workers required. To keep the public and other property safe from damage or harm, this will include both personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety measures.
ON THE DAY OF WORK - To keep unauthorised persons away from the area of work, barriers and safety measures should be put in place before any tree felling, climbing or cutting of branches begins. If there's a threat of debris falling onto a public highway, passing traffic might need to be halted temporarily.
The tree surgeon will need varying degrees of protection based on the kind of work being undertaken. When carrying out basic work with a chainsaw, to avoid serious cutting injuries to the torso, legs and hands, they will as a bare minimum be wearing protective clothing. Every operative involved in the work, must at all times be wearing hi-vis clothing, and head and eye protection.
Ladders and associated climbing equipment will be needed if working at height is involved, and to assist in the safe removal of high branches and heavy pieces of tree trunk, additional operatives will be needed. It is a good idea to inform your neighbours of the need for easy access, since a skip or other means of transporting the waste materials away will be stationed as close as possible to the work area.
AFTER COMPLETION OF WORK - The site can be cleared of any debris, and all the branches and waste can be taken away, after all work has been completed. Your tree surgeon should then prepare and sign off a certificate of work, a copy of which will be presented to you. This is particularly important where trees covered by a protection order are involved. Highways and paths can then be re-opened, and any safety measures places in public spaces removed.
If you have any complaints about or issues with the completed work, you should get them fixed immediately by first of all speaking to the tree surgeon. If your tree surgeon is an approved member of a trade body, you can get help and advice from the AA or the ISA so as to reach an acceptable solution, if any further arbitration is needed.
Locally based Westham tree surgeons are likely to have the postcode BN24 and the phone code 01323. They will operate in Westham itself, along with nearby areas like Friday Street, Willingdon, Pevensey, Eastbourne, Pevensey Bay, Bexhill, Hailsham, Polegate, Hampden Park, Hooe, Ninfield, Stone Cross, Hankham, and these postcodes: BN24 9FL, BN24 5JJ, BN24 9ET, BN24 9FU, BN24 5NJ, BN24 5DW, BN24 9GL, BN24 5JF, BN24 5HH, BN24 9AZ.
For this sort of assistance it is unquestionably better to bring in an accredited local tree surgeon. Westham business and home owners can substantially benefit from the expertise that are the trademark of a seasoned professional.
Wood Chipping Westham
The majority of Westham tree surgeons will use wood chipping machinery to chop up the smaller branches and limbs that result from their work. Speedily munching up as much as forty tons of material every hour, these awesome wood chipping systems can handle as much as you are physically able to feed into them. Even the smaller, more frequently used devices can process a respectable 5 tonnes per hour without much problem.
Together with providing a handy material that can be used for a whole host of purposes including; weed prevention, garden walkways, biomass fuel, mulching gardens, cultivating mushrooms, ecosystem restoration, landscaping and wood pulp, chopping down the tree branches in this way makes them far easier to transport.
Should you decide that you wish to hang on to some of the wood chips that result from your tree surgery project, most Westham tree surgeons will be happy for you to keep them. If you don't have any use for them, they'll take them away for use on other jobs, or appropriately dispose of them. Whether or not you need any tree surgery doing, you'll find that tree surgeons are an excellent source for wood chippings which you can use in your garden in Westham. Wood chippings are quite often available from tree surgeons for free, although if you need them to be delivered there will likely be a modest fee.
Wood chipping machines are manufactured by various companies, some of the most widely known brands include Timberwolf, T-Mech, Forest Master and Forst.
Removal of Tree Stumps Westham
If you're in a situation where you need to have a sizeable tree felled and removed from your property in Westham, you are perhaps going to be stuck with a tree stump, which will also have to be dealt with. You may be thinking about using the tree stump as a quirky garden seat or some other useful feature, and may be happy to leave it in place until it rots away with time. However, stumps left in your garden can attract unwelcome pests, be a trip hazard, and can even produce suckers in an attempt to regrow themselves.
If you opt to get rid of the tree stump altogether, there are a number of ways to accomplish this, however they fall under 2 key choices stump removal and stump grinding. In the following few sentences, we will be focusing on the option of removal.
Burning, chemical treatments and digging out by hand, are the 3 main techniques for removing a tree stump. If you're planning to deal with a stump on your own, the use of any of these methods may be possible. If you are hiring a tree surgeon in Westham, they will usually suggest the previously mentioned stump grinding method.
Chemical Stump Killers: Chemical treatment requires the use of a powerful chemical substance such as Resolva Xtra Tough Tree Stump Killer, Vitax SBK Stump Killer or Roundup Tree Stump Remover. When utilising these products you should follow the manufacturer's instructions closely, as such chemicals can be incredibly dangerous. The tree stump will take several weeks to break down and can then be chopped up and removed with a spade and an axe.
Tree Stump Removal by Burning: Because it might contravene local legislation and can definitely be dangerous, burning stumps isn't usually a recommended course of action. Should you choose this approach, great care must be taken. It comprises drilling a few 1" holes into the stump and continually filling and topping up the holes with vegetable oil and left to sit for aa few days. The tree stump is then heaped up with logs or charcoal and set alight. This shouldn't ever be left unattended, and be monitored constantly. Once fully burned, ensure that the fire is completely out, let it cool and then dig out the stump ashes and roots.
An alternative method is scooping out all the soil from below the tree stump and setting a fire in the void underneath. Of course, there are a number of circumstances where stump burning isn't appropriate, such as when there are a building, other trees or fences close to the stump in question.
Stump Digging: The method of digging out a stump by hand is pretty self-explanatory, and calls for digging out as much soil as you can from around the roots, cutting any thick roots with a chainsaw, and ultimately freeing the stump so it can be hoisted out and removed. The use of a winch may be required for the final removal of the stump. This is tiring and laborious work.
(Tags: Stump Burning Westham, Removing Tree Stumps Westham, Tree Stump Removal Westham, Removal of Tree Stumps Westham).Tree Surgery Accidents
As we have already explained, tree care professionals in Westham undertake work that can be pretty hazardous. With there being a considerable risk of injury to both operatives and those on the ground, all possible precautions should be taken when carrying out work on trees.
As stated by figures gathered by the HSE, the use of chainsaws, falls from trees, and being struck by a falling branch or tree are responsible for a large majority of major and fatal injuries. In fact, tree surgeons and arborists are more at risk of serious injury than those involved in the construction sector.
With regards to insurance claims the most frequent tree care accidents involve lifting injuries, being struck by objects (cranes, trees, ropes, branches, grapple hooks etc) and slipping from ladders.
All this demonstrates the importance of choosing an experienced Westham tree surgeon when work needs doing on your trees. Quite often, accidents that happen in the tree care sector are due to untrained operatives trying to do tree work that they aren't equipped for, or competent at. Using a trustworthy and established company that has been operating in the Westham area for several years, is the most effective way to avoid such problems, and get your tree surgery work done safely and correctly.
Tree Pollarding Westham
Pollarding is mainly done for reasons of safety and is a technique for greatly decreasing the size of trees which have outgrown their current surroundings. This tactic is in some cases employed for visual reasons to change a tree into a particularly attractive form. You'll quite often see trees which have been pollarded beside streets in Westham, and also quite frequently in managed hedgerows As pollarded trees have got such a bare and harsh visual appearance, and will never go back to their earlier shape, this procedure is not usually popular with those who adore trees. The advantageous element of the pollarding process, is that trees that may normally need to be cut down can be retained in-situ. Pollarding is commonly used on broad-leafed tree species like horse chestnuts, oaks, beeches, sycamores, limes, maples and planes.
A Tree Surgeons's Regular Duties
- Produce tree survey reports for domestic and commercial customers.
- Tidy area on completion and fulfil removal of waste product from customer's site.
- Maintain and service equipment like chainsaws and chippers.
- Be proficient with power tools and other powered machinery.
- Plant trees and vegetation.
- Climb trees to prune or remove branches as required.
- Prepare on-site or telephone quotes with the customers.
- Establish hazards posed by trees.
- Chip and cut branches and logs.
- Fell and remove trees and perform stump grinding.
- Assess tree health and treatment.
- Work with clients and complete administration tasks.
Crown Thinning Westham
Taking away small living branches towards the outer region of the crown, yet not altering the overall shape or size of that tree, is referred to as crown thinning. This procedure is intended to create a consistent density of leaves, which accomplishes particular goals such as: to lessen the tree's wind resistance, to allow more sunlight inside, to prevent the tree from being uprooted when it's windy, to reduce the stress on certain limbs resulting from gravity, ice, wind, or snow or to reduce the total weight of the crown. Crown thinning shouldn't change the overall size and shape of the tree, but ought to produce a uniform thickness of foliage surrounding equally distributed branches. It should be possible to get crown thinning in Friday Street, Willingdon, Pevensey, Eastbourne, Pevensey Bay, Bexhill, Hailsham, Polegate, Hampden Park, Hooe, Ninfield, Stone Cross, Hankham, and Westham itself. (Tags: Crown Thin Westham, Tree Crown Thinning Westham, Crown Thinning Westham)
Safe Tree Surgery
Tree surgery can certainly be a risky enterprise if done in the wrong way, hence one of the primary worries is the health and safety issue. There are a great many things that may lead to damage or injury if the "tradespeople" doing the work are unqualified or inexperienced. Among the most typical situations are failing to wear cut resistant (chainsaw-proof) clothing (specifically leggings and safety boots), falling timber and branches, hardly any protection from falling, in the form of ropes, harnesses and platforms, not using eyesight or hearing protection, a lack of head protection and neglecting to cordon-off the area to protect vehicles and passers-by. In danger owing to such inadequacies are the actual tree, pedestrians, the property or home, the people living in the property, vehicles, the tree surgeon (up the tree), facilities on the street, fences and garden outbuildings, personnel on the ground.
Tree Preservation Orders Westham
Another thing to consider before beginning serious work on your trees, is whether or not they have a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on them. If you get in touch with your local planning authority, they will inform you whether any trees on your property are subject to a Tree Preservation Order. If one of your trees have Tree Preservation Orders, you are prohibited from performing wilful destruction, topping, lopping, removal, wilful damage, uprooting or felling, without written permission from your local authority. Your tree surgeon will be able to explain the process and help you out with any checks.
If you live within a conservation area in Westham, and intend to carry out any work on a tree with a diameter of 75 millimetres or more (1.5m from the ground), you need to give a minimum of 6 weeks written notice to your local council.
Tree Emergencies Westham
While emergencies are rare regarding trees in your garden, accidents can happen, therefore it might be a good idea to have an emergency phone number where you can reach a tree surgeon in Westham. Tree surgeons in Westham generally expect to receive an increase in emergency call-outs when there are strong winds and storms, which is why some of them offer a 24 hour service to cater for this eventuality. Although the chances of an entire tree toppling over are slim, there is more potential for branches breaking off and crashing to the ground, during windy weather. Frequent problems that happen due to tree emergencies are smashed greenhouses, squashed sheds, busted garden furniture and damaged fences.
When substantial tree branches break of and crash onto railway tracks, highways and public pavements, the local authorities in Westham will also often need emergency tree surgeons.
Additional issues could also arise after the emergency tree surgery has been completed, because when a tree has lost some of it's branches, it might look cockeyed or lopsided, with the weight unevenly distributed - consequently "re-balancing" may be needed. If you are experiencing any of these tree related problems, you should not try to resolve any of them on your own, and you should promptly contact a local Westham tree surgeon who provides emergency tree care services, so that they can advise on the most effective plan of action.
Stump Grinding
If you've got a need for specialised services like stump grinding in Westham, making sure that you use a company with the correct knowhow and tools is vital. The very best Westham tree surgeons will appreciate that every last piece of the tree stump should be eliminated down to a depth of at least 30 cm. Having the use of the recommended machinery means that your tree surgeon will have the ability to grind roots and stumps quite close to walls and structures while avoiding damage. Even stumps which are tucked away in narrow passageways and alleys, can be removed using the correct machinery. It can involve a herculean effort to eradicate the stumps of large trees, where the stump and thicker roots go down to a considerable depth, rendering the job even more tricky if you do not have the proper gear. (Tags: Stump Removal Westham, Tree Stump Removal Westham, Stump Grinding Westham)
Tree Surgery Tasks Westham
Westham tree surgeons will likely help you with decompaction, tree topping, vegetation management, tree work, crown removal, shrub maintenance, hedge reduction, tree planning, woodland management, tree surveys, tree waste removal, crown raising, coppicing, stump treatment in Westham, hedge cutting, commercial tree care, waste removal, soil terravention Westham, stump grinding, fruit tree pruning, landscaping, tree pruning, safety inspections Westham, domestic tree care, woodchipping, tree reduction, tree bracing in Westham, site clearance, staking, formative pruning and other tree surgeon services in Westham, East Sussex. Listed are just an example of the activities that are handled by a tree surgeon. Westham professionals will let you know their full range of services.
Tree Surgeons Nearby
Also find: Friday Street tree surgeon, Wannock tree surgeon, Foulride Green tree surgeon, Stone Cross tree surgeon, Pevensey Bay tree surgeon, Hooe tree surgeon, Bexhill tree surgeon, Pevensey tree surgeon, Ninfield tree surgeon, Hampden Park tree surgeon, Hankham tree surgeon and more. The majority of these localities are covered by tree surgeons. Business and home owners in the area can acquire tree surgery quotations by going here.
Tree Care Services Westham
- Westham Crown Raising
- Westham Tree Cutting
- Westham Tree Topping
- Westham Tree Removal
- Westham Hedge Trimming
- Westham Tree Pollarding
- Westham Root Decompaction
- Westham Root Grinding
- Westham Tree Management
- Westham Tree Inspections
- Westham Tree Surveys
- Westham Wood Chipping
- Westham Stump Grinding
- Westham Vegetation Management
If you would like to get local info relating to Westham, East Sussex go here
Tree Surgery BN24 area, 01323.
Tree Management Westham - Tree Surgeons Westham - Tree Surgery Westham - Root Removal Westham - Forest Management Westham - Vegetation Management East Sussex - Tree Care Westham - Stump Grinding Westham - Crown Reduction Westham