Harrogate tree surgery and arboriculture

Tree Surgery in Harrogate, Worked to BS 3998

Crown reduction, thinning, deadwooding, felling and stump work on Harrogate's mature garden and street trees, and out across Knaresborough, Ripon and Nidderdale. All tree work carried out to BS 3998 by an NPTC approved, fully insured team, 28 years in the trade.

WhatsApp Karen about tree surgery Call 07816 779 064
  • 28 yearsGardening since 1998
  • NPTCApproved and DBS checked
  • BS 3998Tree work standard
  • 4.5 from 19Rated on Google

What we do

Harrogate tree work done properly, and left tidy

Harrogate is a town of big trees, and that is what makes tree work here its own discipline. Mature limes, beech and sycamore stand over Victorian and Edwardian gardens that were laid out around them, a great deal of the town sits inside the Harrogate Conservation Area designated in 1973, and a lot of those trees are either protected by a Tree Preservation Order or notifiable to North Yorkshire Council, which needs six weeks of written notice before a saw is started. The gardens themselves are narrow and walled, so a town tree usually cannot be dropped whole. It gets roped down in sections over a conservatory, a greenhouse or a neighbour's boundary, with the chipper working off the front and the road kept clear.

Away from the town the job changes shape. Around Knaresborough, Ripon and up through Nidderdale we are on exposed valley sides and open field boundaries, dealing with windblown and storm damaged crowns, roadside trees and woodland management, where a tree can often be felled whole and the difficulty is the ground and the access instead. Hocus Crocus has a trusted team of professional tree surgeons and all tree work is carried out to BS 3998: crown reduction, crown lifting, crown thinning, deadwooding, pruning, shaping, sectional dismantling, felling and stump removal, on anything from a single garden tree to woodland management.

Tree enquiries usually start with worry rather than a wish list. A limb over the drive that has started to look heavy, a conifer that has gone well past the roofline, a storm that has taken half a crown out, or a tree somebody has told you is dangerous. A mature tree is quick to ruin and slow to replace, so the first job is working out what it genuinely needs, which is sometimes less than you were expecting.

Karen is a professionally trained horticulturalist and tree surgeon with 28 years on domestic, commercial and high-risk sites, established 1998. The team is NPTC approved and holds full chainsaw and pesticides licences, we are IOSH certified and hold ecological risk assessor qualifications, and we are fully insured and DBS checked. We are specialists in dismantling large, dead or dangerous trees, and we also offer a 24 hour emergency call-out service.

Hocus Crocus Gardens & Trees is rated 4.5 out of 5 from 19 Google reviews.

Ivy removal from a tree, before and after

Free visit and a written price. No hard sell.

WhatsApp Karen about tree work Call 07816 779 064
A tree surgeon roped in near the top of a tall bare tree, working the upper crown
A tree surgeon in full chainsaw PPE cutting a felled log on a hillside

What BS 3998 actually means for your tree

BS 3998 is the British Standard for tree work. The current edition, BS 3998:2010 Tree work: Recommendations, replaced the 1989 version and took effect on 31 December 2010. It sets out how cuts should be made, how much live crown can sensibly come off at once, and how to work around decay, wildlife and structural defects. Tree work carried out to BS 3998 is a statement about method, and it is the difference between a tree that is pruned and a tree that is topped.

A tree surgeon roped into the bare upper crown of a mature tree, cutting back branches with a chainsaw during a crown reduction

In plain English

Crown reduction, crown lift and thinning, in plain English

  • Crown reduction shortens the whole crown back to suitable growth points, lowering and reshaping the tree while keeping its natural form.
  • Crown lifting removes the lowest branches to raise clearance over a drive, path, lawn or road.
  • Crown thinning takes out a proportion of the smaller secondary branches so more light and wind pass through the canopy, without changing the outline of the tree.
  • Deadwooding removes dead, dying and hanging limbs, and is often the cheapest way to make a big tree safe.
  • Sectional dismantling takes a tree down in controlled pieces, roped down where there is a roof, wall or greenhouse underneath.
  • Stump removal takes out what is left so the ground can be turfed, planted or built on.

WhatsApp Karen a photo of the tree

What customers say about our tree work

  • Have used several local companies on my very large garden in Pateley Bridge as well as a few properties I rent out until I was recommended Karen at Hocus Crocus and now I would not use anyone else. The tree surgeons are highly skilled and had no problem cutting down a huge 70 ft sycamore tree

    Yvonne, Nidderdale

    Google review

  • Our huge cherry tree has been given a smart haircut, thanks to Hocus Crocus. Excellent job, by knowledgeable, skilled people. Everything left tidy and branches taken away. Lovely people and a great price! Thank you

    Rachel G, Harrogate

    Google review

Permissions, price and patch

Permissions: TPOs, the Harrogate conservation areas and the Nidderdale National Landscape

Before we cut anything we check what protects it, and we do that check on every job. A tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs written consent from the council. A tree in a conservation area needs six weeks of written notice to the council before work begins. Further west and north our patch also sits inside the Nidderdale National Landscape, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1994 and covering 60,117 hectares, where tree cover is part of what the designation exists to protect. We give you guidance on what North Yorkshire Council needs; the application itself is made by you as the property owner.

What affects the price of tree surgery

We treat every job individually and price on your specific requirements, so we do not publish a rate card. What moves the price is the size and species of the tree, how much of it is coming off, whether it can be dropped whole or has to be roped down in sections, access for a chipper and vehicle, whether the timber and chip stay or go, and whether council consent is needed first. Deadwooding a mature beech on an open Dales boundary and dismantling a dead conifer over a Harrogate conservatory with the only access through the house are not the same job. We will look at the tree and put a written price to you.

Where we carry out tree work

Plenty of our tree work is in Harrogate and the villages round it. Tree work travels further than a mowing round though, so we also work east into Knaresborough and the Nidd gorge, north to Ripon and the estate country around Grewelthorpe, and up the steep valley sides and exposed sites around Pateley Bridge and upper Nidderdale. The full patch is set out on the areas we cover page.

Tree work rarely happens on its own either. Tall conifer screens and overgrown garden hedges are dealt with on our hedge cutting and reduction page, and once a big tree has come out the ground underneath usually needs rethinking, which is where garden design and replanting comes in. Send us a photo of the tree and we will tell you honestly what it needs.

A large section of a tree being lowered during a controlled dismantle
A scaffold platform set up against a mature tree to give the team safe access to the crown for tree work

On the tools

Tree services we carry out

Crown reduction and reshaping

The crown shortened back to suitable growth points so the tree keeps its natural shape at a manageable size. Carried out to BS 3998, which sets sensible limits on how much live crown comes off in one go.

Crown lifting and thinning

Lower limbs removed to raise clearance over a drive, path or lawn, and secondary branches thinned so light and wind pass through the canopy without changing the outline of the tree.

Deadwooding and tree diagnosis

Dead, dying and hanging limbs taken out, and an honest read on the health of the tree. Often the cheapest way to make a large tree safe without reducing it at all.

Felling and sectional dismantling

Trees taken down whole where there is room, or roped down in controlled sections where there is a roof, wall, greenhouse or neighbour underneath. Specialists in large, dead or dangerous trees.

Stump removal and replanting

Stumps taken out so the ground can be turfed, planted or built on, with replacement planting if you want something back in its place.

TPO and conservation area guidance

We tell you exactly what North Yorkshire Council needs for a protected tree or a conservation-area address, and what has to be submitted before work can start, so a Preservation Order does not stop the job being done properly. The application itself is made by you as the property owner.

WhatsApp Karen a photo and she will price it Prefer to send the details in writing?

Before and after

On site with the tree team

Karen's own photographs of real jobs.

  • The Hocus Crocus team in hi vis feeding brash into a wood chipper on a residential street after tree work, with a tipper alongside
  • A Hocus Crocus tree surgeon roped high near the top of a tall mature tree carrying out crown work with a chainsaw
  • Ivy and tree growth swallowing the side of a stone house, and the same wall with a tree surgeon on a ladder clearing it back
  • A tree surgeon roped into the top of a partly dismantled tree, with overhead cables crossing the sky in front of it
  • A tree surgeon roped in at the top of a tall conifer being dismantled section by section beside a large brick house
  • A tree surgeon on a climbing rope inside the crown of a mature tree in full leaf, chainsaw in hand, cutting a limb back
  • Karen in chainsaw helmet and ear defenders with her saw on a back garden tree job
  • Dismantling a tall conifer against the frontage of a Harrogate town house
  • Hocus Crocus tree surgeon making a felling cut on a garden tree with a chainsaw
  • An overgrown pyracantha grown right up the front of a stone house
  • The same wall after the pyracantha was cut out and cleared away
  • Tree work beside the scoreboard at a village cricket ground
  • A roped tree surgeon silhouetted high in a mature tree canopy at dusk
WhatsApp Karen a photo of yours Call 07816 779 064

Question not answered below? Call Karen on 07816 779 064.

Common questions

Tree surgery questions from Harrogate, Ripon and Nidderdale

Do I need permission to cut down a tree in Harrogate?
Often, yes. A tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs written council consent, and a tree in a conservation area needs six weeks of written notice to the council first. We check before quoting and give you guidance on what has to be submitted; the application itself is made by you as the property owner.

What does BS 3998 mean when you say tree work is carried out to it?
BS 3998 is the British Standard for tree work, currently BS 3998:2010 Tree work: Recommendations (source: BSI Group). It governs how cuts are made, how much live crown should come off, and how decay and wildlife are handled. It is the standard our tree work is carried out to.

Is crown reduction better than felling a large tree?
Usually, if the tree is sound. A reduction lowers and reshapes the crown so the tree keeps its form, its shade and its value to the garden, and it costs less than felling plus stump removal plus replanting. If the tree is dead or structurally unsafe, we will say so.

Can you work on trees in the Nidderdale National Landscape?
Yes. The Nidderdale National Landscape was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1994 and covers 60,117 hectares, and we work in it every week. Designation does not stop tree work, but it does mean the right permissions and a sympathetic approach.

What happens to the branches, logs and stump afterwards?
Brash is chipped and taken away, and timber goes with us unless you would like it left cut for the fire. Stump removal is a separate item on the quote, and we agree the tidiest way to get it out once we have seen the access and the root spread. The site is raked and swept before we leave.

When is the best time of year for tree surgery?
Most tree work can be done year round, but winter suits heavy pruning and felling because the crown is bare and the ground is firmer. Nesting birds are the limit rather than the calendar: it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to damage an active nest, so we check first.

Where we work

Covering Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and the whole of Nidderdale.

Karen is based near Knaresborough and works right across Harrogate and its villages, out to Knaresborough and Ripon, and up the whole of Nidderdale. Not on the list? Just ask.

Not on the list? WhatsApp Karen and ask
  • Harrogate
  • Knaresborough
  • Ripon
  • Killinghall
  • Hampsthwaite and Birstwith
  • Boroughbridge
  • Summerbridge and Dacre Banks
  • Pateley Bridge
  • Wetherby

Got a tree that needs looking at?

Ask us to come and see it, or send a photo to start with. Free quote, an honest opinion on whether it needs the work at all, and no pressure either way.

WhatsApp Karen a photo of the tree Call 07816 779 064