How Much Does Tree Surgery Cost in Skegness?

Typical price ranges for common jobs

These figures are rough guides for private gardens and are not fixed prices. The final cost depends on the tree, where it stands and how much clearing up is involved. Most domestic jobs take between half a day and two days.

Most quotes include clearing and chipping the brash, but check yours does. If the stump needs dealing with after felling, ask about that separately, because it is not always included as standard.

• Light pruning or shaping a small garden tree such as an apple, cherry or birch: roughly £150 to £400
• Crown lift on a medium tree, removing lower branches to let in light or clear a path: roughly £200 to £500
• Crown reduction on a medium to large tree: roughly £400 to £1,000
• Dead-wooding a mature tree: roughly £250 to £700, depending on size and access
• Felling a small tree with clearing and chipping: roughly £250 to £600
• Felling a large tree in sections close to a house or fence: often £800 to £2,500 or more
• Hedge cutting: roughly £100 to £400 for a typical garden hedge, with overgrown conifer hedges and full clearances costing more

What makes one job cost more than another

Height on its own does not set the price. What matters most is how much skill, time and care the job needs. For a 15 metre tree in an open garden, the branches can often be dropped straight down. The same tree next to a conservatory, a shed or overhead cables has to be taken down piece by piece and lowered on ropes. That takes far longer.

Access is the next big factor. In many Skegness terraces and bungalows the only way into the back garden is a narrow side passage. Then every branch has to be carried through by hand, or the chipper can't get close. Waste volume matters too. A big conifer or leylandii produces a surprising amount of material, and all of it has to be chipped and taken away.

• Height and spread of the tree
• Nearby buildings, fences, greenhouses and power or phone lines
• Access for equipment and for carrying out waste
• Species and condition, since dead or decayed wood needs more caution
• How much brash, timber and chippings need removing

Coastal conditions and timing

Gardens near the coast take a lot of wind and salt spray. As a result, trees here often grow lopsided, lose limbs in winter storms or carry more dead wood than inland trees. A storm-damaged tree that needs urgent work can cost more than the same job planned in advance, so it pays to get weak or overhanging limbs looked at before winter.

Timing also affects what can be done. Nesting birds are protected by law, so heavy work on trees and hedges between roughly March and August needs a check for active nests first. That can delay a job. Many people book bigger pruning and felling work for autumn and winter, when the leaves are off and the shape of the tree is easier to see.

Permissions to check before work starts

If a tree is covered by a Tree Preservation Order, or your property is in a conservation area, you usually have to notify the council or get consent before most work. In Skegness, Louth and Horncastle that council is East Lindsey District Council. Boston and Sleaford come under their own local councils. A refusal or a six week notice period doesn't change the cost of the work, but it can change when it happens and what is allowed.

It is worth asking whoever quotes whether they have checked this. Ask too whether the price covers the full clear-up, so you know exactly what you are paying for.

How to get a fair quote

Prices given over the phone without anyone seeing the tree are guesswork. At Field Tree & Garden Care, Gordon or the team will visit for free, look at the tree and access, and send a fixed written quote by email or text. Most jobs need no upfront payment, and there is a walk-round with you at the end before any invoice is sent. Wherever you get quotes from, ask for them in writing and check they say what is being cut, by how much, and what happens to the waste.