The right tree for the spot
Most of the trees we are asked to remove are the wrong tree in the wrong place: a forest species planted three metres from a bungalow, a leylandii screen nobody intended to be twenty metres tall, a eucalyptus in a small wet garden. The cheapest tree work is choosing well at the start. We look at the soil, the exposure, the space above and below ground, what is nearby and what you want from the tree, and suggest species that will still be right in fifty years.
In the TR postcodes that often means trees that cope with wind and salt: sessile oak, hawthorn, rowan, field maple, holly and Cornish elm inland, with sycamore, Monterey pine and evergreen oak taking the brunt near the coast. For gardens, smaller trees such as crab apple, amelanchier, hazel and the smaller birches earn their place without becoming a removal job for the next owner.
Planting properly
A tree planted badly spends years sulking or dies. We plant in the dormant season, in a hole wide rather than deep, at the same depth the tree grew in the nursery, with the roots teased out and the soil firmed back without compacting it. Stakes are low and on the windward side, ties are checked and loosened as the tree grows, and guards go on wherever rabbits or deer are about. A mulch ring keeps the grass off the roots and the moisture in.
We can supply bare root whips and feathered trees for hedges, screens and woodland, and larger container or root balled trees for a specimen in a lawn, with the digger doing the hole for anything heavy.
Aftercare
The first two summers decide whether a tree establishes. Watering in a dry spell, keeping the mulch ring clear of grass and weeds, checking the tie and the guard, and a light formative prune in the second or third winter to set the shape. We can come back for that, or show you what to do.