Tree Surgery in Cardiff
Tree pruning
Pruning is the most common request in Cardiff, usually to take dead wood and crossing branches out of a tree that has been left alone while the house changed hands.
Cardiff is a green city, and a lot of that green hangs over back gardens. A sycamore that seeded itself behind a Canton terrace decades ago, a row of conifers planted between two Whitchurch semis, a cherry that has grown into the front bedroom window: in a city where plots are packed tightly together, one tree can shade three or four gardens and drop leaves into all their gutters.
T J Landscapes carries out tree surgery and hedge care across Cardiff, from the walled yards of Roath to the larger gardens of Llandaff, Rhiwbina and Pontprennau. Tony and the team prune, reduce, fell and clear away, and quotes are free. For the wider picture of our garden work in the capital, see the Cardiff landscaping page, or send us a photo of the tree.
The same six kinds of work we do everywhere, and how each tends to play out in a city garden.
Pruning is the most common request in Cardiff, usually to take dead wood and crossing branches out of a tree that has been left alone while the house changed hands.
Crown lifting helps in small Cardiff gardens where low limbs block the light from ground-floor windows, and a light thinning lets sun back onto a shaded yard or lawn.
Felling in the city almost always means taking a tree down in sections from the top, because there is rarely room to drop anything whole between houses, walls and sheds.
Leylandii screens between Cardiff semis are the classic topping job; they need cutting regularly to hold a height both households can live with.
Privet, laurel and beech hedges line plenty of front gardens in the suburbs, and a regular trim keeps them off the pavement and clear of the path to the door (see hedge trimming: how often and when).
Stumps are often ground out in Cardiff so the space can become a patio, a shed base or a bit more lawn in a garden where every metre counts.
Cardiff has a good number of conservation areas, many of them in the older suburbs, and trees inside them are covered by rules that do not apply elsewhere. In general, you have to give Cardiff Council notice before most work on a tree in a conservation area, and any tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs consent first. Neither can be spotted from the garden, so it is always worth asking before the work is booked. Allow a few weeks for the council to reply, since a conservation area notice has a waiting period before work can start.
We raise this at the quote stage and tell you what to ask. Our guide to tree work in Cardiff conservation areas goes into more detail, and the wider rules are covered in do you need permission to cut down a tree in Wales? As landscapers, we can point you in the right direction, but the council has the final say.
Behind a Victorian terrace in Roath or Canton, there is often no way into the yard except through the house or down a narrow lane. That shapes the whole job. Branches are cut small enough to carry, dust sheets go down along the hall, and the day is planned so the brash leaves steadily instead of piling up by the back door.
Space is tight above ground too. A tree in a walled yard may stand a metre from the kitchen extension, the neighbour’s shed and a phone line all at once, so each piece is lowered on a rope rather than dropped. If you want to know how the day runs, read what happens on the day a tree surgeon visits.
Tree work in a crowded city is as much about the house and the neighbours as the tree. Our reviews on Google, Checkatrade and this site talk about both.
We look at the route out of the garden before quoting, so a terrace with no lane is priced and planned properly from the start.
Conservation areas and protected trees are raised early, so nobody in Cardiff gets a letter from the council after the event.
We are happy to talk over the fence, keep shared paths clear and leave next door’s side as tidy as yours.
When the shade lifts, the same team can relay turf, lay paving or rebuild the wall the roots have nudged out of line.
Out in Llanishen, Rhiwbina and Whitchurch the gardens are longer, and so are the trees. Here the usual complaint is shade: a lawn that turns to moss under a big canopy, or a patio that never dries. A crown lift or thinning often solves it without losing the tree, and we will say plainly when felling is the better choice. Our guide to felling or pruning sets out how we weigh it up.
Many of these jobs lead on to the next one. Once the light is back, the lawn can be relaid, a tired boundary can be replaced with new fencing in Cardiff, or the rest of the overgrowth can go in a proper garden clearance.
Real reviews from homeowners across Cardiff — rated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 69 reviews and 10/10 on Checkatrade.
“Had my patio done by the company and could not be happier. Top quality work done and quickly too.”
“I was pleased to find Tony and his lads were absolutely great! Tony responded quickly & was very polite.”
“We were delighted with the work and materials, which were of very high quality. Tony and team helped us.”
Local and practical guides to help you plan the work.
One team for the whole garden, so a single visit can price everything you have in mind.
We cover Cardiff and the towns around it. Choose another area below.
T J Landscapes South Wales
24 Conway Road, Pontypool
Torfaen, NP4 6HL
We cover homes right across South Wales, from Cardiff and the coast up to the valleys and the Brecon Beacons.
Yes. Plenty of city gardens are like that. We cut the wood to carrying size, protect the floors and take everything through the house in stages, then sweep up behind us.
The quickest way to find out is to ask Cardiff Council, either by phone or through its website. If it is, you will generally need to give notice before most tree work. We can help you describe the work you want when you contact them.
Trees in the pavement are normally the council’s, not the householder’s, so we cannot touch them. Report it to the council. We can deal with anything growing inside your own boundary.
For many garden trees, late autumn and winter work well, though cherries and plums are better done in summer. See when should trees be pruned? for the detail, or ask when we visit.
The size of the tree, how close it is to buildings, whether everything has to go through the house, how much wood comes out and whether the stump goes too. A free quote is the only way to a real figure.
Tell us roughly where in Cardiff you are, what the tree is doing and how we would get into the garden. A photo from the back door is ideal.