Frequently Asked Questions

What would you like to know about our tree services?

Do you provide emergency call outs?

Yes. When the proverbial "hits the fan" we will endeavour to get out to you ASAP.



Our neighbours trees are overhanging into our garden. Can we cut them?

In our experience the best thing to do, every time, is to chat to your neighbour first. Legally speaking you can trim the branches back to the boundary line up to a height of 5 metres. However if access is required from the neighbours side then you need their permission to gain access.



My neighbours hedge is blocking all our sun light. Can you cut it down in height?

My immediate answer is no! At least not until the neighbour has agreed and given their permission to do so! There are no specific laws governing how high a hedge can be. You can speak to your local council under the "anti-social behaviour act 2003" when the hedge is above 2 metres tall and you have been unable to resolve the issue informally with your neighbour.



Is CNJ Tree Services insured?

Yes! We hold £10 million employers liability and £5 million public liability insurance coverage. This is the usual value for commercial contracts in our sector.



How do you assess / price jobs?

Every site/situation is different. The elements of "cost" in tree surgery work that are taken into consideration are;

ACCESS- Can we get our trucks/machines/chipper close to the tree? If we have a long way to drag material out this adds time & labour. We may need an extra person on the team if the drag is very long or awkward so that we can relay the materials out.

LANDING ZONE- Is there room to fell the tree from the bottom? If not we must climb and dismantle the tree. If we are climbing can we "cut & chuck" all the branches out the tree straight below us? If not we will need to "rig & lower" the material out of the tree, or alternatively use slings to aid the fall direction. All of this adds time and again labour cost.

HOW MUCH MATERIAL ARE WE REMOVING?
When we assess a tree (particularly when removing whole trees) we have to consider what's happening to all the stuff on the ground. I personally think in terms of of truck loads (that's about 6 cubic metres). How many truck loads of material have to be removed and how far do we need to drive with all the waste? The waste is broadly split into two categories; woodchip (everything that fits through the chipper) and heavy logs (stuff that won't fit through the chipper). We try to keep woodchip and heavy in separate loads as we have to deal with them separately wherever we unload.

TIDY UP- This is always the least favoured part of the day for every tree surgeon I know! We've likely climbed and dismantled a tree into your garden, dragged all the branches out and chipped them, then hauled the logs out and loaded the truck. We are tired, the truck is full and now we need to clear up a bombsite of tiny sticks, leaves, saw dust, and chip!

If we are felling trees in "rough ground" that can have a quick rake & blast with the leaf blower this is obviously much quicker and easier than trying to clear up an immaculate garden. In very many cases we will spend as much time clearing gardens as we do physically climbing trees. I have said for a long time that when we leave a site people comment more on how well we tidied up rather than how well we worked on the tree. Naturally, even after lots of raking, brushing, leaf blowing and picking there will still be some saw dust, small leaves etc that are just not practical to be picking up. That's the stuff that will disappear next time you cut your grass with the lawnmower.