Who is the best tree pruning specialist? A tree surgeon, arborist or a chain saw man?
Who is the best tree pruning specialist — a tree surgeon, an arborist or is someone with a chainsaw just as good?
The wrong choice can damage a tree or make it look ugly. I know because I made that mistake myself.
And a tree is one of your garden’s major features, so it’s worth taking time to understand the issue.
In this guide you’ll learn: • who is qualified to prune trees • when you need an arborist instead of a tree surgeon • warning signs your tree has a health problem • how to find a reputable tree specialist • what tree pruning usually costs.
The right pruning makes trees more beautiful and improves their health. Plus it can create more light. Bad pruning not only looks ugly, but your trees will block more light!
Why Choosing the Wrong Tree Pruning Specialist Can Damage Your Trees
I didn’t know the difference between a tree surgeon, an arborist (also known as an arboriculturalist) and a Chain Saw Man when we first moved into a garden with trees.
When a tree seemed too overgrown, we just found the cheapest option. This was a man with a chain saw who told us he knew all about trees. He clearly didn’t, and chopped the branches off half-way along their length.
By the following summer, they’d sprouted in an ugly pattern around where he’d cut. The tree started to look like a lump of branches and foliage rather than a beautiful tree. The sprouting ends created a thick, dense canopy so we needed to cut it back again.
My favourite picture of our Robinia frisia. Although it’s a big tree, it is airy and only casts dappled shade. You need a tree pruning specialist who knows whether a tree can take heavy pruning or whether it should only have a light pruning to remove dead branches. If this Robinia was pruned heavily, it could trigger rampant growth which can make the tree weaker and vulnerable to disease. Really heavy pruning of this tree could kill it.
Tree surgeon vs Arborist – What’s the Difference?
I asked Matt Jackson of Land & Heritage to explain. Matt is a garden consultant, qualified arborist and advises on both domestic gardens and large estates.
‘Arboriculture goes beyond knowing how to prune trees and cut them down,’ he said.
‘Tree surgeons haven’t always been trained in tree diseases. You need an arborist rather than a tree surgeon if you want advice on the health of your trees. An arborist or arboriculturalist is trained to understand the mechanics and biology of a tree, and everything that’s going on within it. He or she will be able to give you a detailed assessment of its health, vitality and safety. Whereas a tree surgeon’s job is prune or cut down trees.’
Some (less polite) arborists say that tree surgeons prune branches off trees but don’t know why they’re doing it or what effect it’ll have on the tree.
However, many tree surgeons do also have arboricultural qualifications.
A tree surgeon specialises in the pruning of trees, an arborist in the health of trees and an unqualified chainsaw contractor may simply make a mess of it all.
When do you need a tree surgeon?
You need a tree surgeon to do the following:
routine pruning
crown reduction
shaping trees
removing dangerous branches
cutting down the tree altogether (but always consider all the alternatives before deciding to cut down a mature tree)
However, be aware of what a tree surgeon can’t do. They’re not necessarily the best person to ask about which tree to choose.
I’ve made this mistake too. Believing a tree surgeon to be an overall tree expert, I asked for advice on what trees to plant. I asked for a fast-growing evergreen recommendation to block an ugly street lamp.
However, the tree surgeon suggested a Liquidambar and a rowan. They’re beautiful trees but they’re not evergreen. Or fast-growing. Or certainly, they haven’t been fast-growing where I planted them..
The Liquidambar is squashed between the conifer and the magnolia on the advice of a tree surgeon. We wanted a tree that could ultimately replace the conifer in blocking out a street lamp, but the Liquidambar is certainly the wrong choice.
I’ve since puzzled over what the tree surgeon thought I wanted. ‘Evergreen’ and ‘deciduous’ don’t even sound like each other, so surely he didn’t mis-hear? They are wonderful trees for autumn colour, but that wasn’t my primary reason for needing a tree in that spot.
Of course, you might say (with justification) that I should have done my own research. But I thought he was an expert and that I knew nothing.
This is the first lesson of happy gardening: even if you know nothing about gardening, you often do know what you want in your own garden.
You may not know the right words or terminology, but you may have a surprisingly clear idea.
So if ‘experts’ don’t seem to make sense, question them. They may not have understood what you’ve asked for.
And don’t be afraid of asking ‘silly questions.’ We all know different things. You’re entitled to ask when you don’t know something.
When do you need an arborist (arboriculturalist)
Many, although not all, tree surgeons also have arborist qualifications. You need an arborist for:
tree disease
dying trees
structural problems
planning advice
I should have talked to an arborist, not a tree surgeon, when I was choosing my trees. You can also get excellent advice from specialist tree growers. Some have good online facilities for choosing trees.
Check their website for qualifications (NPTC chainsaw certification etc.)
Ask to see insurance
Ask for a written quote
Ask for references
How much will a tree pruning specialist cost?
Good tree surgery and advice is expensive. You won’t have to do it very often – perhaps only once in five years.
Qualified experts with the right equipment will cost. And they’ll need to add their time spent writing up reports, making recommendations and travel.
There aren’t official figures and costs will be different in different countries or areas.
I’ve seen tree surgeons quote around £75+ an hour or £200-£300 a day per person. They often have to work in teams of two or more, and there’ll be added charges for the use of special equipment.
A gardener can prune smaller trees, such as young trees or fruit trees. However, make sure that the gardener knows what they are doing.
The right early pruning of young trees will make a big difference to their ultimate shape and attractiveness.
But above all, don’t try to prune your trees on the cheap. It’ll leave you with ugly trees. And tree work can also be very dangerous.
A friend of mine once booked a tree surgeon who failed to turn up, so an unqualified man who’d done some odd jobs for her offered to prune the tree instead. He was fatally injured falling out of the tree onto some railings.
As soon as you need the combination of power tools and ladders, you must find a qualified tree pruning specialist.
Warning signs your tree may have a problem
Matt says that, as a homeowner, you’re actually in the best position to notice if something is wrong with a tree. Look for:
a thinning canopy or crown (the foliage)
early leaf drop
fungus at the base
cracks or oozing bark
“Watch how your tree performs through the year,” he says.
Matt also suggests research before calling in a professional. “There’s a huge amount of help online – for example on the RHS website. If you know what the tree is, look up the symptoms and you can often get a good idea of what’s going on.”
When our Cotinus coggygria ‘Grace’ suddenly died back on one side in 2016. I did some online research and then called in an arborist. Together we concluded it was probably verticillium wilt, and decided to try to save the tree by removing the dead wood.
As a homeowner, you do have a legal responsibility to keep your trees safe. But that doesn’t mean cutting them down at the first sign of trouble. A passing “chainsaw man” will usually suck his teeth and declare the tree beyond saving. A tree surgeon may suggest heavy pruning or felling.
An arborist is more likely to take a balanced view, looking at the tree’s health as well as what you want from it in your garden.
You do have to pay for that advice. But it can save money in the long run if it prevents unnecessary tree surgery.
Our cotinus is a major feature in the garden, so I was reluctant to lose it. Official advice for verticillium wilt often suggests removing the tree entirely. But in reality, once diseases such as verticillium wilt or honey fungus are present in a garden, they tend to remain in the soil. The long-term solution is usually careful management and avoiding susceptible plants.
So we removed the dead branches and thinned the rest to improve air circulation. When the arborist cut the wood, we could see from the staining in the branches that the tree had probably had previous bouts of the disease. I also added a thick mulch to improve the soil.
It felt like a gamble at the time, but it turned out to be the right decision.
Our Cotinus suddenly died on the right hand side in 2016.
Losing the Cotinus (the red-leaved smoke bush) would have made a huge difference to the garden. Seen here in 2015 before it got verticilium wilt.
I’m updating this post ten years after our original experience with the verticilium wilt. We have now reduced the Cotinus to a large shrub. It looks healthy at this size.
So I’m glad I didn’t cut it down and burn it.
You can see the cotinus is looking healthy, but it’s quite significantly smaller than it was. We will continue to keep it small, as it seems healthier that way.
Red flags when looking for a tree pruning specialist
Homeowners beware! Reputable tree surgeons and arborists do not do the following:
cold calling – just turning up at the front door
pressure selling
cash-only offers
suggesting drastic pruning immediately
I recently had an experience with ‘chain saw man’, which I thought was worth passing on.
Someone knocked on our door and said he was ‘working on the trees next door.’
When I mentioned our neighbours’ names, he amended it to ‘no, next door to them.’
He then went onto say he’d noticed the trees in my front garden were rather overgrown, which they are. He asked if I wanted a quote, because he could ‘pull a couple of men off the other job and do my trees’?
When I questioned him about what he would do to the trees, he started to get aggressive. ‘Those trees are a nightmare, they’re just terrible.’ He suggested pruning the ornamental cherry (it should only be done in mid-summer and this was autumn). And he suggested pruning the viburnum, which was about to come into flower.
As I became increasingly uneasy, his tone grew more bullying. It became clear that he was no tree pruning specialist.
I took his card and said I would ask next-door-but-one if I could look at their trees after his work was done. He then amended it to ‘no, the house beyond that’ and went.
I should have known. Good tree surgeons are unlikely to have the capacity to knock on doors looking for work. You will often need to book them several months in advance.
That’s why it’s also worth knowing the basics of tree pruning, even if you’re not doing the job. You’ll pick up the red flags more quickly.
A few dead branches are normal. They don’t mean the end of a tree. But if a tree is completely dead, you need professional advice on taking it down safely.
Matt showed me an easy test to tell whether a branch is really dead. In the winter, dormant branches will often look dead.
But use a knife to scrape away a small amount of the bark. If the tree is alive, you will see yellow or greenish growth under the bark.
And if you have a tree in your garden which feels too big, think about pruning it before deciding to cut it down. See how to prune for both light and privacy for ‘transparent pruning’ techniques.
And for a comprehensive handbook on trees for small gardens, see Alan Titchmarsh’s How To Garden: Small Trees. It has recommendations for trees, plus care and pruning advice.
I’m writing because I am considering hiring one of these professional tree services to look at our trees in order to help keep them healthy and trimmed. Who do you recommend? And what should we anticipate paying for this service?
I can’t recommend any particular professional tree service, because I don’t have personal experience of any except for the tree surgeon who cuts our trees. The Arboricultural Association has a Find a Member service: https://www.trees.org.uk/Find-a-professional. there’s a huge range in what tree surgeons cost, depending on the job – it will be cheaper and easier to have a few branches trimmed by one person than for chopping down a big old tree, which will usually have to be done by a team of 3. I have heard of several instances of people quoting £3,000 for removing a big old tree, and I have also heard that £120 an hour for a team of 3 is normal. However, these costs will vary according to where you live and how difficult the job is. T
Hugely useful article – I have spent hours googling ‘tree surgeons’, tree pruning, techniques RE how and when, avoiding water-sprouts etc. I was told by a chain saw man (as I now realise he was!) you could do ‘anything’ to our beautiful purple leaved prunus and it would bounce back. I didn’t feel comfortable proceeding, and reading your post am pleased I didn’t. Now, to locate an arboriculturist. Thank you!
I had a thought today whilst pruning 5 very misshapen fruit trees, the process of hand pruning (saw, lopper, ladder and long handled pruner) allows for a measured approach to pruning. The physical action of ‘hand pruning’ forces you to think about the structure and the reason the tree is growing in a certain way, with out sounding like a tree whisperer or a old hippy.. to tackle the task quietly, slowly and by hand really works for us.
As a person who knows nothing about my only tree in my backyard your post means a lot. Now I realize the man who prunes my tree every year is a chain-saw man who is not really understanding my tree who seems to suffer, when I see the branches now that is completely bland and will soon start to sprout green. I will make my own research regarding my tree (a catalpa) and will be able to better know what it really needs and give a better prune at a proper time. Thank you from Spain!
Thank you! And I hope you find the right person – it may take a few years of proper pruning and growing to get the tree into a good shape, but it’s so worth it.
If you live in a conservation area a tree surgeon will sort out the relevant permissions too. From memory it’s trees with trunks above three inches diameter that require planning permission (and six weeks notice), but obviously check with the planning department.
A very timely reminder – thank you! I should have mentioned that, and you’re right – in the UK if your tree is in a Conservation Area and has a trunk diameter of more than 75mm when measured 1.5m from the ground, then you will need planning consent – or at least to give local authorities 6 weeks’ notice – to prune or fell it. If you’re thinning or removing a tree in order to give other trees around it more space, then it’s 100mm diameter. I’ve had a look at exemptions (for example, are Leylandii cypresses automatically protected?) but it’s not clear from Government websites which, if any, trees are automatically exempt. So if in doubt consult your local authority. It also seems – although once again, it’s not very clear – that trees that can be seen from the road or another public area are the ones that local council tree officers are most concerned with, along with the preservation of ‘woodland.’
A very large proportion of our fruit tree pruning work is rescuing trees blunt ‘pruned’ with a chain saw. Simply tackling the extremity of growth is not the whole story, the timing of pruning is vital. We suggest if you are getting someone in they should be professional enough to explain the rationelle behind what they do!
Ooooh snap! We moved in to our house 18 months ago and we have a beautiful Cotinus Coggygria – we reckon about 10 years old . I absolutely love it so was devastated to discover what I think is Verticillium wilt on the right side (googled to reach this conclusion!). We thought the tree was doomed! We were going to give it til autumn to see what happened and then probably get rid! Is it possible to prune back ourselves do you think? Is it even necessary if it’s likely to have had it before? Love your emails by the way!
Thank you! We had all the dead wood removed, which meant a better circulation of air around the remaining branches and canopy. If you do this yourself (and Cotinus makes a very small tree, so it should be possible), then make sure you remove whole branches from where they meet the trunk. Don’t cut across the middle of branches or they will sprout. I think it’s worth a try – after all, ours has now recovered from two bouts of verticilium wilt. We also put a nourishing mulch around it. I don’t normally water any plant that is well established, but I did notice that our tree did its dramatic dying-on-one-side after a prolonged hot and dry spell in August, so it may be worth giving it at least one really good soaking if we have (ha ha) any prolonged hot dry spells this summer. If you need to replace it, the RHS has a good list of plants that are resistant to verticilium wilt:https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=255. Hope it works – good luck!
Our road has many large well-established trees on it. Unfortunately they’re maintained by chain-saw men working for the local council. The sight of them leaving huge gaping wounds all over the cherry trees, often cut at the worst time of year for the bacterial canker infections that prunus are prone to, makes me really angry. Some I think are already sick and I’m convinced they’ll be the death of most of them eventually.
The problem is that chain-saw men are cheap and people aren’t willing to pay for expertise. It’s the same with ‘gardeners’: a really talented gardener won’t come to your house for the minimum wage.
I agree with you. It’s one of the reasons why I wrote this post, and also the other two on finding a gardener and getting a garden appraisal – to help people understand that paying for specialist help in the garden is really worthwhile and can make such a difference to the look and health of your garden.
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I’m writing because I am considering hiring one of these professional tree services to look at our trees in order to help keep them healthy and trimmed. Who do you recommend? And what should we anticipate paying for this service?
Thanks so much!
I can’t recommend any particular professional tree service, because I don’t have personal experience of any except for the tree surgeon who cuts our trees. The Arboricultural Association has a Find a Member service: https://www.trees.org.uk/Find-a-professional. there’s a huge range in what tree surgeons cost, depending on the job – it will be cheaper and easier to have a few branches trimmed by one person than for chopping down a big old tree, which will usually have to be done by a team of 3. I have heard of several instances of people quoting £3,000 for removing a big old tree, and I have also heard that £120 an hour for a team of 3 is normal. However, these costs will vary according to where you live and how difficult the job is. T
There is certainly a difference between a tree surgeon and arborist, but I’ve never heard the phrase “Chainsaw man” .
Another person to mention is a tree surveyor. They can be considered as arborists as they have knowledge of tree condition and health.
You make an excellent point, thank you.
Hugely useful article – I have spent hours googling ‘tree surgeons’, tree pruning, techniques RE how and when, avoiding water-sprouts etc. I was told by a chain saw man (as I now realise he was!) you could do ‘anything’ to our beautiful purple leaved prunus and it would bounce back. I didn’t feel comfortable proceeding, and reading your post am pleased I didn’t. Now, to locate an arboriculturist. Thank you!
Thank you for letting me know, good luck with finding the right person.
I had a thought today whilst pruning 5 very misshapen fruit trees, the process of hand pruning (saw, lopper, ladder and long handled pruner) allows for a measured approach to pruning. The physical action of ‘hand pruning’ forces you to think about the structure and the reason the tree is growing in a certain way, with out sounding like a tree whisperer or a old hippy.. to tackle the task quietly, slowly and by hand really works for us.
That’s a good thought, makes alot of sense.
As a person who knows nothing about my only tree in my backyard your post means a lot. Now I realize the man who prunes my tree every year is a chain-saw man who is not really understanding my tree who seems to suffer, when I see the branches now that is completely bland and will soon start to sprout green. I will make my own research regarding my tree (a catalpa) and will be able to better know what it really needs and give a better prune at a proper time. Thank you from Spain!
Thank you! And I hope you find the right person – it may take a few years of proper pruning and growing to get the tree into a good shape, but it’s so worth it.
If you live in a conservation area a tree surgeon will sort out the relevant permissions too. From memory it’s trees with trunks above three inches diameter that require planning permission (and six weeks notice), but obviously check with the planning department.
A very timely reminder – thank you! I should have mentioned that, and you’re right – in the UK if your tree is in a Conservation Area and has a trunk diameter of more than 75mm when measured 1.5m from the ground, then you will need planning consent – or at least to give local authorities 6 weeks’ notice – to prune or fell it. If you’re thinning or removing a tree in order to give other trees around it more space, then it’s 100mm diameter. I’ve had a look at exemptions (for example, are Leylandii cypresses automatically protected?) but it’s not clear from Government websites which, if any, trees are automatically exempt. So if in doubt consult your local authority. It also seems – although once again, it’s not very clear – that trees that can be seen from the road or another public area are the ones that local council tree officers are most concerned with, along with the preservation of ‘woodland.’
A very large proportion of our fruit tree pruning work is rescuing trees blunt ‘pruned’ with a chain saw. Simply tackling the extremity of growth is not the whole story, the timing of pruning is vital. We suggest if you are getting someone in they should be professional enough to explain the rationelle behind what they do!
I know some of the trees you look after, David, and they look beautiful. And thank you for mentioning the timing – yes, essential!
Ooooh snap! We moved in to our house 18 months ago and we have a beautiful Cotinus Coggygria – we reckon about 10 years old . I absolutely love it so was devastated to discover what I think is Verticillium wilt on the right side (googled to reach this conclusion!). We thought the tree was doomed! We were going to give it til autumn to see what happened and then probably get rid!
Is it possible to prune back ourselves do you think? Is it even necessary if it’s likely to have had it before?
Love your emails by the way!
Thank you! We had all the dead wood removed, which meant a better circulation of air around the remaining branches and canopy. If you do this yourself (and Cotinus makes a very small tree, so it should be possible), then make sure you remove whole branches from where they meet the trunk. Don’t cut across the middle of branches or they will sprout. I think it’s worth a try – after all, ours has now recovered from two bouts of verticilium wilt. We also put a nourishing mulch around it. I don’t normally water any plant that is well established, but I did notice that our tree did its dramatic dying-on-one-side after a prolonged hot and dry spell in August, so it may be worth giving it at least one really good soaking if we have (ha ha) any prolonged hot dry spells this summer. If you need to replace it, the RHS has a good list of plants that are resistant to verticilium wilt:https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=255. Hope it works – good luck!
Our road has many large well-established trees on it. Unfortunately they’re maintained by chain-saw men working for the local council. The sight of them leaving huge gaping wounds all over the cherry trees, often cut at the worst time of year for the bacterial canker infections that prunus are prone to, makes me really angry. Some I think are already sick and I’m convinced they’ll be the death of most of them eventually.
The problem is that chain-saw men are cheap and people aren’t willing to pay for expertise. It’s the same with ‘gardeners’: a really talented gardener won’t come to your house for the minimum wage.
I agree with you. It’s one of the reasons why I wrote this post, and also the other two on finding a gardener and getting a garden appraisal – to help people understand that paying for specialist help in the garden is really worthwhile and can make such a difference to the look and health of your garden.