Cutting Down Trees in Nottingham

Deciding to fell a tree isn't always as simple as picking up a chainsaw. A tree standing solely in your own garden is usually yours to remove, but one covered by a Tree Preservation Order, sitting inside a Conservation Area, or standing on rented land needs permission first, and getting that wrong can mean a prosecution and a court-ordered replanting bill running into thousands of pounds. George Beck and his team have been felling and removing trees across Nottingham, Derby and the surrounding villages for over 20 years, checking the legal position on every tree before a chainsaw starts, so the risk never lands on you.

Most felling jobs turn out simpler than people expect once that check is out of the way - a leylandii that's outgrown a boundary, a self-seeded sycamore splitting a fence panel, or an old fruit tree that's finally died back and needs to come out before it drops a limb on the shed. What actually decides how a job runs is usually what's around the tree rather than the tree itself: a greenhouse or garden building sitting in the drop zone, overhead cables running through the crown, or a trunk close enough to a wall or a neighbour's fence that it has to come down in sections rather than as one clean fell. For hedge trimming, pruning or crown work rather than a full felling job, see our tree surgery services page.

• An initial screening over the phone or from photos, flagging streets and postcodes known for Tree Preservation Orders or Conservation Area status before a site visit is even booked
• A full check with the local council on Tree Preservation Order and Conservation Area status as standard, before any quote is confirmed
• Handling the Tree Preservation Order or Conservation Area consent application itself where permission is needed, including the paperwork and waiting on the council's decision - submitting a well-prepared application doesn't guarantee consent is granted, since that decision sits with the council, but it does mean the case is put together properly rather than left to chance
• Clarifying where an overhanging or boundary tree's growth is legally yours to remove, without taking on the underlying dispute if there is one
• A pre-work check for active bird nests during the March to July nesting season, with cutting on that tree paused by law if a nest is found
• Explaining whether the Forestry Commission felling licence threshold applies, so you know before any cutting starts whether this is purely a garden job or something with a separate legal process attached
• Setting up a safe exclusion zone around the tree for the felling itself, with ground staff keeping the drop area clear and watching for anyone wandering into it while the cut is being made
• Letting immediate neighbours know in advance where a tree overhangs a shared boundary or the drop zone runs close to their fence line, so nobody's caught off guard by a chainsaw starting up next door
• Removing the tree once the legal position is settled, and clearing the site - timber cut to log lengths, brash chipped, arisings taken away or left as agreed
• A last look round once the tree's down for anything the site visit couldn't have flagged from ground level - an old wire fence grown into a hedge line, a drain cover hidden under leaf litter, that kind of thing

• The Forestry Commission felling licence application itself remains the landowner's responsibility - it applies where timber felled outside a private garden totals more than 5 cubic metres, and we can flag it and advise, but the application is a separate legal process with the Forestry Commission
• Permission from a landlord: if you rent rather than own the property, that needs sorting with them before any booking is confirmed
• Resolving a boundary or ownership dispute with a neighbour over a tree - we'll clarify what you're legally entitled to have removed, but a live disagreement is a matter for the parties involved, or the local authority, to settle
• Stump grinding or removal - felling leaves the stump in the ground, and taking it out is priced separately
• Making good anything disturbed purely to get access for the felling - a fence panel taken down to get timber out is put back as we found it, but repairing damage that was already there beforehand isn't part of the felling price
• Skip hire or specialist transfer for unusually large volumes of timber - most jobs are cleared as standard, but a big felling job producing more wood than can reasonably be taken away in our own vehicles can be priced separately if you'd rather it was all removed than left as logs

1. Tell us about the tree -- a call, or photos and a description sent over - roughly how tall it is, what it looks like, and what's around it - so George can gauge the species, size and position and flag anything that's likely to need a council check before a site visit is even booked
2. Site visit and council check -- a visit to see the tree in person, look at access, overhead cables and anything in the likely drop zone, and confirm exactly where it sits - alongside a check with the local planning authority for a Tree Preservation Order or Conservation Area designation. During nesting season this includes a visual check for active nests at the same time
3. Confirming you're clear to go ahead -- if the tree's protected, we explain what consent is needed and can submit the Tree Preservation Order or Conservation Area application on your behalf; council decisions on these aren't instant, and the timeframe is set by the local authority rather than by us. If you rent, tenancy permission needs to be sorted before anything is booked in
4. Fixed price and a date -- once the legal position is settled, you're given a fixed price for the removal itself and a date to go in the diary - not before, so there's no guessing what a job will cost while a council decision is still pending
5. The tree comes down -- an exclusion zone goes up, and the NPTC qualified crew bring the tree down using directional felling where there's room for it, or careful sectional removal where a wall, building or boundary rules a straight fell out, with ground staff managing safety and keeping the drop area clear throughout
6. Site cleared and any conditions signed off -- timber cut to length, brash chipped, the site swept and any access temporarily disturbed put back as found. Where consent came with conditions attached - a replanting requirement, for instance - we confirm they've been met

Felling price depends on the tree's height, species, condition and how straightforward it is to bring down safely - a tree with a clear drop zone costs less than one hemmed in by a house, greenhouse or power line, and a dead or storm-damaged tree can take longer to make safe than a healthy one of the same size, since decayed wood behaves less predictably under the saw. Access matters too: a tree reachable from the drive is cheaper to deal with than one at the back of a garden that needs everything, including the chipper, carried through the house or over a side gate. A tree that has to come down in sections rather than as a single fell - because it's too close to a building, a greenhouse or a neighbour's boundary to drop whole - takes longer and costs more than a straightforward fell of the same size, simply because each section has to be lowered or thrown clear under control rather than felled in one cut. Where a tree needs Tree Preservation Order or Conservation Area consent, that adds council processing time before work can legally start, though there's no extra charge from us for making the application on your behalf. What you want done with the timber afterwards can also affect the final figure: leaving logs stacked for firewood is usually quicker than loading everything out to be taken away, so it's worth saying which you'd prefer when the quote's being worked out. There's no reliable single price for tree felling online, and a figure given without seeing the tree is a guess. The free site visit is what turns that guess into a fixed quote, covering the removal and clearing the arisings afterwards.

George Beck set up the business after more than 20 years working as an arborist, and holds City & Guilds NPTC Certificates of Competence across the full range needed for tree work - from chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting and felling small trees, through to felling large trees over 760mm and handling interwoven stems or part-blown, windblown trees safely. That range matters on a felling job specifically: a tree that's storm-damaged or leaning under tension behaves differently under the saw to one felled in ordinary conditions, and it's exactly the kind of situation the Level 3 competences are there for. Before any of that starts, though, George checks Tree Preservation Order and Conservation Area status as standard, and has handled Tree Preservation Order and Conservation Area consent applications directly with councils, so customers aren't left to work out the legal position on their own. David King, whose garden in The Park Estate holds a mature copper beech never previously pruned, had George and colleagues reduce it by 20% in height and width - a demanding job on a 25-metre tree - and described the team as excellent and pleasant to deal with. Jennifer Leahy in Long Eaton had a similarly straightforward experience on a smaller job, with a quick quote turnaround and a fabulous result clearing unwanted ivy despite rainy weather. The business is small enough that you deal with George directly rather than a call centre, and carries public liability and employers' liability insurance, with documentation available on request.

Based at Long Eaton, the team covers Nottingham and the surrounding towns and villages within roughly 15-25 miles, including West Bridgford, Wollaton, Beeston, Bramcote, Ruddington, Edwalton, Radcliffe on Trent, Bingham, Lowdham, Burton Joyce, Ravenshead, Hucknall, Ilkeston, Heanor, Ripley, Alfreton, Mansfield, Newark-on-Trent, Southwell and Worksop. Long Eaton itself sits where the Erewash meets the Trent, and gardens close to either river tend to have softer, wetter ground that changes how a tree's root plate behaves if it's already leaning or storm-damaged - something that's factored into how a felling is planned rather than just the cut itself. Recent jobs have included a mature copper beech reduction on The Park Estate in Nottingham, a Victorian estate of large gardens and mature planting where most trees are covered by Conservation Area status, and tree and hedge work in Alfreton, alongside general felling and clearance in Long Eaton and West Bridgford. Across the coverage area that's a mix of Victorian terraces with tight rear access reached only through the house, larger detached gardens with more room to work in, and semi-rural plots backing onto farmland or woodland - each needing a different approach to legal checks as well as getting machinery and timber in and out safely.

A tree that's protected, on rented land, or bigger than it looks from the ground can turn into an expensive mistake if it's cut down without checking first. A free site visit settles the legal position, gives you a fixed price for the felling itself, and means nobody's guessing about Tree Preservation Orders after the chainsaw's already started. Get in touch and ask for George to get a date booked in.

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