​What Does a Tree Surgeon Do?

It’s often the case that many people haven’t heard of tree surgeon, until they are in need of one. Tree surgeons, also known as arborists, look after the health of your trees. They can assess if a tree needs to be felled, its health condition and appropriate action that can be taken to improve its look and shape.

Tree surgeons have a unique set of skills. They must be physically fit to climb up and down trees and be knowledgeable about the different biological afflictions that can affect trees such as various funguses and parasites. 

Other abilities include using maths to work out how tall a tree is, and the best approach to take for a tree to be cut down safely. The last thing anyone would want is for a tree to crash into a house or other property. 

Tree surgeons can study for a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree and relevant courses include: forestry, arboriculture, countryside management, forest management, woodland ecology and conservation. They also need to be competent and able to use appropriate machinery and keep up to date on the latest advancements. 

Being a tree surgeon is not job for the faint hearted and can be quite dangerous. Falling off a tree or having one fall on you is a constant threat tree surgeons face. Rigorous health and safety assessments for each job and having the right equipment for the job will lessen that threat, but it is crucial that the tree surgeons are always aware of their surroundings.  Let's take a closer look at what a tree surgeon does.

Inspection
The first thing tree surgeons do of importance is to examine a tree, just as a physician examines a patient. The tree surgeon will assess if the tree is healthy, if there is any disease, and if the tree itself is a danger. The examination will determine what next steps can be taken.
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Pruning
If a tree can be saved, the tree surgeon will perform "surgery" by "operating" on the tree. Limbs and branches that carry disease or parasites will be pruned to keep the problem from spreading to the tree as a whole. Pruning can be a dangerous task because it may involve using a harness to reach limbs that are higher up on the tree. Falling limbs have been known to strike a tree surgeon on the way down because of miscalculation and cause a fall. 

Pruning is also done to remove weight from a tree. Heavier trees are more likely to fall in high winds or when the soil it is in becomes too saturated from rain to hold its weight. By cutting back or removing limbs altogether, it makes the tree significantly lighter and less likely to fall. Crown lifting, crown reduction and crown thinning are all part of the service.

Felling Trees
When one of your trees has an infection that is too widespread, it must be removed. The same is true if your tree is infested with parasites. Another reason that your tree may need to be taken down is the threat of it falling on a structure, such as your house. In such cases, tree surgeons will carefully take down your tree a piece at a time to lessen the chance it could fall and do damage to your home or other trees and plants in your garden.

Quoting Prices
Tree Surgeons undertake work of a wide variety, so there is no one uniform cost for any given task they will undertake. Take felling trees as an example, there are different height trees with different dimensions and various obstacles that have to be contented with by the tree surgeon. So when it comes to quoting work, it is quite dependent on these types of examples.

Tree Surgeon Essex Can Keep Your Trees Healthy
If you are have a tree or trees that need looking after by a tree surgeon, we can help. Our services include: tree removal, stump removal, hedge trimming, pollarding, site clearance, crown reduction, crown lifting, crown thinning and emergency tree work.

Call or email us and a member of our friendly team will be in touch to discuss your needs. Don't wait until your tree is too far gone to treat, contact us today!