How we quote

The permission check comes before the price

Every quote we write starts with the register, not the tree. We check whether your tree carries a Tree Preservation Order and whether your address sits inside one of the district's 19 conservation areas, and we put the answer in writing with the quote. If it is protected, the quote says which route applies, which clock you are on, and what the paperwork costs.

We do this because the fine for destroying a protected tree is up to £20,000 per tree and it lands on the person who instructed the work, not on the firm that turned up. A quote that skips this step is not cheaper, it is just incomplete.

Fixed written quotes

Every price is written down before any work starts. The sheet carries the tree or trees, the work being done on each, the method, the access route, what happens to the waste, how long we expect to be on site, and the total. One number, not a day rate that grows once the crew is in the garden.

Where something genuinely cannot be known until the tree is opened up, a hidden cavity, a fork that turns out to be split through, it is named on the quote as a possible variation with a price against it. You will not get a surprise on the last day.

What actually drives the price

• Access. Whether a chipper can park next to the tree, come through a side gate, or not get in at all. Usually the biggest single factor, and the reason two identical trees can differ by hundreds.
• The target underneath. An open lawn is a different job to a conservatory, a pond and a boundary wall.
• Size and species. Weight per metre varies enormously between a birch and an oak of the same height.
• The method. Straight fell, sectional dismantle, or rigged and lowered piece by piece.
• Waste. Chipped and taken, chipped and left, or logged and stacked.
• Paperwork. A protected-tree application or notice is real work and it is priced separately, so you can see it.

We publish no fixed per-tree price list, because a price given without seeing the access is a guess dressed as a number. What we do publish is the market band, so you have something to check any quote against: the Checkatrade directory listing for emergency tree surgeons in St Albans quotes roughly £327 to £875 with an average around £541.

That figure is a published third-party market range, not our price list. Ours comes from the visit and is fixed in writing.

No cold calling, ever

We do not knock doors, we do not leaflet a same-day price, and we never turn up saying we were working down the road and noticed your tree. The day after a storm this trade fills up with people doing exactly that, and it is the single most reliable warning sign in the whole business.

Every job we do starts with a homeowner contacting us. If somebody appears at your door claiming to be from this company, they are not, and we would like you to ring the number on this site and tell us.

Insured, qualified climbers

The work is carried out by insured climbers working in and around St Albans. Public liability cover is in place on every job, and the certificate goes out with the quote if you ask for it, before anyone sets foot in the garden rather than after.

We do not display accreditation badges we have not earned. If you see a scheme logo on any tree surgery website, including ours, check the membership number on the scheme's own register rather than trusting the picture. Our promises page sets out exactly what we are claiming and what we are not.

What happens after you enquire

1. We reply. Normally the same working day, by phone or email, whichever you asked for. Storm and dangerous-tree calls are answered day and night.
2. We check the register. Before the visit where we can, so we arrive already knowing whether your tree is protected.
3. We visit. We look at the tree, what is underneath it and how we would get to it. Fifteen to thirty minutes, free, no pressure to decide anything on the spot.
4. You get the quote in writing. Emailed, with the work, the method, the waste and the price, plus the protected-tree position.
5. You take your time. No discount that expires tonight, no chasing calls, and no deposit asked for before you accept.
6. If you say yes, we book a date and confirm it in writing, and we lodge any paperwork the tree needs.
7. If you say no, that is the end of it. We do not add you to a list and we do not ring you back in three months.

Where your details go

Your enquiry details are passed to the local partner tree firm who prepares your quote, so they can call you back and arrange the visit. Nothing else changes hands: no marketing list, no data sale, no third party advertising. The full detail is in our privacy notice.