Tree Services Ltd

Tree Surgery in Kent

At Tree Services Ltd we provide a full range of Tree Surgery in Kent, keeping your trees, healthy and visually balanced all year round.

Whether you need branches cleared away from a building, a dense canopy thinned to let light back into your garden, or a protected tree managed within a conservation area, our tree surgeons combine decades of local experience with specialist knowledge of species across the country.

Operating strictly to British Standards (BS3998) and fully NPTC qualifications, we provide reliable, insured tree surgery in Kent, serving domestic and commercial clients across Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Gravesend and Maidstone.

Crown Thinning

Instead of altering the overall size or shape of the tree, crown thinning involves the selective removal of a small percentage (typically 10% to 20%) of secondary, weak, or crossing inner branches.

This specialised technique opens up the interior of the canopy to flood your garden with sunlight, as was the case with this Copper Beech Reduction in Sevenoaks. Thinning also allows heavy winds to pass safely through the branches, reducing the risk of storm failure. It maintains the privacy and mature height of your tree while greatly improving its inner health and vitality.

Crown Lifting

This process involves the removal of the lowest branches of the canopy to raise the overall height of the tree’s foliage line from the ground. It is an excellent solution for clearing low-hanging limbs over highways, footpaths, or roofs without altering the upper canopy, just like this avenue of Lime Trees we lifted at Cobham hall

By raising the crown, it can dramatically increase the amount of ambient light filtering into your garden and living spaces below, while improving access and resolving safety concerns.

Crown Reduction

A crown reduction involves reducing the overall height and spread of a tree’s canopy by cleanly cutting back the outer branches to suitable growth points, scaling down the entire top and lateral framework of the tree while preserving its natural shape and structural silhouette. Like these birch reductions in Tonbridge and this Magnolia Reduction in Tunbridge Wells

We routinely carry out crown reductions to manage mature trees that have outgrown their residential space, are encroaching on nearby buildings, or have wind-throw issues. like this Poplar Reduction we recently completed, where the tree was weighted heavily over and towards a building.

By reducing the canopy weight and wind resistance, we decrease the stress on the trunk and root system. Operating strictly to British Standards (BS3998), our qualified arborists ensure that all cuts are made with precision to promote healthy compartmentalization and prevent decay, keeping your trees safe, stable, and beautifully proportioned.

Pollarding

Pollarding is an ancient method of pruning that keeps trees and shrubs smaller than they would naturally grow. The upper branches are cut back to the main trunk or frame, forcing the tree to produce a dense, compact head of new branches and foliage. Once a tree has been pollarded, new shoots will need to be cut back to the knuckle every few years.

Pollarding is a method also used to substantially reduce the height of a tree. This can be beneficial if the tree is diseased or failing at the crown, such as with Ash Dieback, an invasive disease, killing as many as 90% of the UK’s Ash Trees.

We recently pollarded a group of large trees with ash dieback to a safe height. You can see the full job here: Ash Dieback pollarding in West Peckham.

Deadwooding

Over time, mature trees naturally accumulate dead, dying, or diseased branches within their canopies. Deadwooding is a critical safety service where we climb through the tree to completely strip out these brittle limbs before they can snap and fall. This is highly recommended for trees overhanging lawns, public areas, glass greenhouses, or outbuildings. Removing deadwood also prevents wood-boring insects, fungi, and rot from spreading into the healthy sections of the trunk.

Tree Bracing

Tree bracing is a specialized preservation technique used to support structurally weak, heavy, or co-dominant stems without resorting to full tree removal. Rather than cutting down a mature or historically significant tree, we install high-tensile flexible cabling and bracing systems within the upper canopy. This crucial intervention absorbs dynamic wind loading forces and significantly limits excessive movement, reducing the risk of structural failure or limb tearing during severe storms.

Unlike rigid traditional bracing methods that can damage healthy timber over time, we use modern, non-invasive dynamic cabling systems that allow the tree to move naturally enough to build up its own structural reaction wood. This service is ideal for mature oaks, beeches, and multi-stemmed specimens across Kent that feature included bark joints or heavy overextended limbs overhanging properties and public highways.