Guides & advice
Know your trees and hedges before you cut them.
Practical, jargon-free advice on the trees and hedges in your garden — when to cut, how to keep them healthy, and when it's worth calling a professional. Written by Simon and the Farnham Trees and Hedges team.
When should you cut a hedge? A simple seasonal guide
Cut at the wrong moment and you can leave a hedge patchy — or disturb nesting birds. Our plain guide to formative, maintenance and reduction cuts, and the times of year that suit conifers, formal and native hedges best.
Guide · Farnham Trees and Hedges
Crown reduction vs topping: why the difference matters
They can look similar from the ground, but one keeps a tree healthy and in shape while the other forces weak, dense regrowth. What proper crown reduction involves, and how to ask for the right thing.
What is pollarding, and is it right for your tree?
Pollarding isn't for every tree — but for willows, limes and a few others it's a sustainable way to control size for decades. How it works, which species suit it, and why timing and technique are everything.
When is the best time of year to prune a tree?
It depends on the species. Most deciduous trees are best pruned when dormant, but cherries and plums are pruned in summer, and birch and maple 'bleed' if cut too early. A quick guide to getting the timing right.
Felling a large tree: what actually happens on the day
A 60ft fir doesn't just get pushed over. Whether we fell straight or take it down in sections depends on what's below. Here's how a big removal is planned, rigged and cleared — safely and tidily.
How to read a tree surgery quote (and spot a bad one)
Why is one quote half the price of another? Usually it's what's left out — insurance, waste disposal, stump grinding, making good. Here's what a proper, honest quote should spell out before you say yes.
Do you need the stump ground out after felling?
A leftover stump can regrow, trip you up and block replanting. When it's worth grinding one out, how deep we go, and what happens to the space afterwards — so you can reclaim the ground.
Seasoned hardwood logs: what makes good firewood
Good timber from a removal shouldn't go to waste. What 'seasoned' really means, why moisture content matters for a clean burn, and how the logs from our tree work end up in local stoves and fire pits.
Guides are published as our schedule allows — the topics above are what we're asked about most.
Common questions
Straight answers, before you call.
What areas do you cover?
We're based in Crondall, just outside Farnham, and cover roughly a 15-mile radius across Surrey, north-east Hampshire and the Berkshire border. That includes Farnham, Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet, Hartley Wintney, Yateley, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Eversley, Bentley, Alton and Wrecclesham, plus the wider Surrey area and the villages in between. If you're not sure whether you're in range, just ask — we'll tell you straight away.
Do you give free quotes?
Yes — every quotation is free and no-obligation. We come out, look at the job, and give you a clear, straightforward price. It's something our reviewers mention often: 'a straightforward quote which they stuck to'. There's no charge for us to come and price the work, and no pressure once we have.
How big a tree can you take down?
Any size. We handle everything from a small ornamental to large, mature specimens — one recent job was a 60ft-plus fir felled with four other trees logged in the same visit. Where there's room we fell straight; where there isn't, we take a tree down in controlled sections. Twenty years of experience means big, awkward or damaged trees are handled safely and cleanly.
Will you clear up and take the waste away?
Always — it's the thing every one of our reviews mentions. As standard we clear the arisings, chip the brash and rake and sweep the site so it's left tidy. If you'd rather keep the wood, we'll log and stack it for you instead — and we sell seasoned hardwood logs too. As one client put it, they 'sweep up after themselves… done and gone within the hour'.
Do you do hedges as well as trees?
Yes. Hedges are half of what we do — precision cutting and shaping, height reduction on overgrown hedges, full hedge removal, and planting and establishing brand-new hedging. We'll also come back to keep a hedge maintained to a regular standard, as one long-hedge client asked us to do after we brought theirs 'back under control'.
Do you remove stumps after felling?
We can. Felling leaves a stump that can regrow and get in the way, so if you want the space back for lawn, planting or paving, we grind the stump out mechanically to below ground level. The grindings can be left to backfill the hole or cleared away, and we rake the ground level once it's done.
Do you take on commercial and larger jobs?
Yes. Alongside domestic gardens we handle grounds maintenance for estates and commercial sites, forestry and woodland work, and site clearance for builders and developers — including combined tree-and-ground clearance to prepare a plot ahead of construction. Same experienced crew, same standard, whatever the scale.
What are your hours?
Our office hours are Monday to Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 9am–3pm; we're closed on Sundays. Google also lists us as open Monday to Saturday, 8am–7pm — so if you call early or late in the day, there's a good chance we'll answer. Drop us a message any time and we'll come back to you.
Still not sure?
There's no such thing as a silly tree question. Send Simon a photo and he'll tell you what he'd do — and whether it even needs doing yet.