Any structural works carried out to trees, including crown reduction, crown thinning, crown lifting, pruning, coppicing or pollarding are an important part of any trees growth. Helping them to live longer with better shape and form.

Trees may require these works for several reasons:

To remove dead, diseased or storm damaged branches,
Thinning a crown to allow better air circulation and new growth,
Removing obstructing branches,
Reducing the height of a tree,
Shaping the crown for design purposes.

Structural works to a tree will allow more light into the garden area / property. Light is essential for other plants, shrubs and trees to grow and it will also reduce weight from the tree and minimize damage from high winds and storms.

Structural tree works and complete dismantling of trees in large or small and confined spaces, or where access is poor or difficult is a specialist task. At Richard Gauld, Tree Specialist we are able to carry out work of this type quickly and confidently using high quality climbing and lowering techniques practiced by our skilled and experienced staff.

We have invested in equipment and staff training and have a good reputation for carrying out any of these tree works efficiently and safely. All works are carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the British Standard 3998:2010, recommendations for tree work, and we adhere to Section One of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, in order to protect nesting wild birds.

Our current tree pruning techniques include, but are not limited to:

Crown Reduction
If a tree has outgrown its location and has become an obstruction or a potential danger or people, roads or buildings, crown reduction can reduce the overall size of the canopy by up to 30% by shortening stems and branches.

Crown Thinning
This tree surgery measure helps reduce the density of a tree’s crown, allowing more sunlight and wind to pass through its structure. No more than 30% of the crown should be thinned so as to reduce any epicormic shoots

Crown Lifting
This practise increases the space between the ground and the crown of the tree. This is usually achieved by removing the lowermost branches to a specific point.

Pollarding
This is a pruning system, normally started when a tree is young, in which the upper branches are removed, promoting a dense crown of foliage. Nomally carried out for maintaining a pre-determined height and visual attraction. Re-pollarding needs to be carried out every couple of years.

Deadwooding
Primarily carried out for aesthetic or safety reason, deadwooding involves the removal of dying or dead branches. Where these are larger branches that might provide habitat for birds or insects, then can, if deemed safe, be shortened to relieve weight, rather than removed.

Formative Tree Pruning
A tree surgery process designed to create structurally strong trees during their younger years by removing weak branch unions, rubbing branches or diseased wood.

Tree Lopping and Topping

Detailed above are the best tree care methods, but we do get enquiries from clients interested in topping and lopping their trees. This concerns removing all branches and foliage, not to be confused with pollarding, and the tree shape and character are destroyed. There are several reasons why Richard Gauld, Tree Specialist doesn’t offer this service. As well as producing unattractive trees, lopping and topping can:

Encourages decay and diseases,
cause unnecessary stress to the tree and therefore potential early death,
cost more money long-term.

Not only does topping cause a range of issues for both the tree and the customer, if the tree survives, the processes will require to be carried out again every few years, but we believe there are better and more effective ways to control growth and reduce hazards by tall or overgrown trees.

As an alternative we offer the following routine procedures of tree inspections and crown pruning to identify weaknesses and address them hopefully saving the life of the tree and leaving a more attractive specimen with a higher amenity value.