Tree surgery for the gardens, estates and woodlands of Surrey and Sussex. Crown work, fruit tree restoration, felling where it’s genuinely needed — the right cut, at the right time of year, with wildlife checked first.
We are an award-winning, BALI-accredited company based in Dorking, and tree work sits alongside our woodland management and garden maintenance services — so your trees are cared for as part of the whole garden, not in isolation.
A great deal of tree work is done badly: topped crowns that regrow as a mess of weak shoots, trees felled that only needed lifting, protected trees cut without consent, and work done in nesting season without so much as a look up for a nest.
TPO and conservation-area status checked, bats and nesting birds surveyed, the right prescription chosen — before any cutting starts.
Crown reduction, thinning or lifting solves most light, size and safety problems while keeping the tree. Felling is the last resort, not the starting point.
Where it’s safe, we’ll recommend leaving standing deadwood or a habitat stem — a monolith full of beetles and woodpeckers is worth more than a flush stump.
Why tree work needs more than a chainsaw
A typical bad tree job usually looks like this:
A topped tree regrowing into a dense, weakly-attached thicket, a council fine for unconsented work on a protected tree, or a healthy tree felled because nobody suggested the alternative.
What Wild by Design does differently
We check every tree’s protection status first — Dorking, Guildford, Reigate and the Surrey Hills are full of TPOs and conservation areas — and where consent is needed we handle the council application for you.
The work itself follows good arboricultural practice: the right season for the species, clean cuts, and the tree left with a shape it can actually grow into. Every job can start with a free habitat assessment of the trees and the ground beneath them.
Survey and TPO checks, pruning or dismantling, wood and chippings dealt with, and aftercare — the whole job, in-house.
The bread and butter of good tree surgery: reducing a crown that’s outgrown its space, thinning to let light through, lifting over lawns, paths and drives — keeping the tree healthy and the garden usable.
Old apples, pears and plums brought back into shape and productivity with staged restoration pruning — timed to the species, so cherries and plums are cut in summer to avoid silver leaf.
Where a tree is dangerous or genuinely in the wrong place we fell or dismantle it in sections, grind the stump if you wish, and deal with the timber. Storm-damaged trees are made safe promptly. And if the tree is part of a wider overgrown plot, our garden clearance team takes on the whole site.
Surrey is one of England’s most wooded counties and much of it is protected. We check TPO and conservation-area status on every job and handle council applications where consent is needed.
How much does a tree surgeon cost in Surrey?
It varies with the size and condition of the tree, access, and what’s being done — a crown lift over a driveway is a smaller job than dismantling a large tree in a confined back garden. Any TPO application is included in the quote.
Every project gets a written, itemised quote after a site visit. No hidden extras.
It depends on the tree’s size, condition, access, and the work needed — a crown lift is a smaller job than a confined dismantle. We assess on site and give a written, itemised quote, including any TPO application if one is needed.
Late autumn and winter for most structural work, while trees are dormant — with exceptions: cherries and plums in summer to avoid silver leaf, walnut and birch in mid-summer to avoid bleeding. Nesting season (March–August) constrains major work.
If the tree has a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area, yes — the council must consent before almost any work, and unconsented work is a criminal offence. We check the status of every tree and submit the application on your behalf.
Almost always — and we’d usually rather. Crown reduction, thinning or lifting solves most light, size and safety problems while keeping the tree. Felling is the last resort.
Look for large dead branches, fungal brackets at the base, cracks or cavities in the trunk, and a lean that’s recently got worse. If any of those sound familiar, have it looked at promptly — most problems caught early can be managed without felling.
Yes — logs can be ringed for firewood and left with you, chippings reused as mulch or paths, or everything removed and recycled. Standing deadwood can also be kept as a habitat stem where it’s safe.
Yes — sensitive sites are exactly the work we love. Trees near ponds, veteran trees and ancient hedgerows all get a wildlife survey first, and the approach comes from our woodland management practice.
Book a tree survey visit
A tree quote always starts with a proper look at the tree — species, condition, protection status, targets beneath it, and access. We’ll tell you honestly if the tree needs nothing at all.
Or call the team direct, find the number on our contact page.
Trusted by over 100 homeowners in Surrey and surrounding areas since 2018
Garden Design in Sussex | Garden Design in Surrey
Serving East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire
Unit 3, Havenbury Estate, Station Rd, Dorking RH4 1ES
