Tree work is quoted per job after someone has seen the tree, and the honest reason is that the two things which move the price most — how the material gets out, and what sits underneath — cannot be judged from a description. What can be set out clearly is what those factors are, so you know what you are comparing when the quotes come in.
What you are actually paying for
Not the cutting. On most domestic jobs the cutting is a modest part of the day. The rest is rigging, lowering, processing the material and getting it off the site.
- Which operation it is. Deadwooding, a crown lift, a thin, a reduction and a felling are wildly different amounts of work on the same tree.
- Access. A chipper beside the tree versus every branch carried out by hand through a side gate.
- What is beneath. Clear ground lets sections drop. A greenhouse, shed or neighbour's fence means everything is roped down under control.
- Species and timber density. Dense hardwood is slower to cut and much heavier to handle.
- Condition. Dead or decayed wood is climbed and dismantled far more cautiously.
- Waste volume. A mature tree produces a genuinely large amount of material, and it all has to leave.
Old fruit trees are their own category
Worth a section of its own here, because the Vale of Evesham is long-established fruit-growing country and a great many gardens in and around the town contain old apple, plum, pear or damson trees — sometimes the remnant of an orchard that the housing was built across.
Two practical points. Plums, damsons, cherries and other stone fruit should not be pruned in winter, because of the risk of silver leaf infection — summer is the time for those. Apples and pears are winter-pruned. And an old neglected fruit tree is usually best restored over two or three years rather than in one heavy cut, which provokes a mass of vertical water shoots and little else.
If the tree is genuinely old and unproductive and you want it gone, that is a reasonable decision. But it is worth asking about restoration first — old orchard trees are frequently local varieties, and they are usually more recoverable than they look.
Relative cost of the operations
| Work | Relative cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Deadwooding | Lowest | Removes dead branches; often all a tree needs |
| Crown lift | Low | Raises the canopy; reclaims the ground beneath |
| Targeted pruning | Low | Specific branches over a specific problem |
| Fruit tree pruning | Low to moderate | Skilled but small-scale; often ground level |
| Crown thin | Moderate | More light through, same size |
| Crown reduction | Higher | Genuinely makes the tree smaller |
| Felling or dismantling | Highest | Removes the tree entirely |
| Stump grinding | Quoted separately | Different machine |
Describe the problem, not the operation
This saves people more money than anything else. A large share of enquiries that open with "it needs reducing" turn out to want a crown lift, once we ask what is actually bothering the customer. A lift is cheaper, it lasts considerably longer, and on most trees it looks better.
Before you book, in Evesham
Evesham has a conservation area covering the historic core, and there are Tree Preservation Orders across the district. A tree in a conservation area needs six weeks' written notice to Wychavon District Council before work starts — a notice, not an application, with nothing to approve beyond the six weeks. A tree with a TPO needs written consent, which is a slower and more formal process.
Old orchard trees are worth a specific mention here. Where housing has been built over former orchard land, the surviving trees are sometimes protected precisely because they are what is left of it. It is one phone call to check, and cutting a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence rather than an oversight.
On the council itself: reorganisation was confirmed in July 2026 and Wychavon District Council will be replaced by South Worcestershire Council, but not until 1 April 2028. Elections in May 2027 will generate coverage well before anything changes. Until then Wychavon District Council is who you deal with.
What brings the price down
- Several trees in one visit — set-up, travel and waste run happen once.
- Combining tree work with hedge cutting or clearance.
- Keeping the chip or logs if you can use them.
- Clearing the ground under the tree beforehand.
- Being honest about access at quotation.
- Flexible timing outside the busiest weeks.
What should not be the cheap bit
- Ask to see insurance, and check it covers tree work at height.
- Ask what chainsaw and climbing qualifications the crew hold.
- Ask whether they have checked for a TPO or conservation area.
- Ask how the branches are coming down — dropped or roped.
- Ask whether they are a registered waste carrier.
Want a free quote on your tree in Evesham?
Tell us roughly how tall it is, what species if you know, and what's underneath. We'll arrange a free quotation based on the actual work required.
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