Fir cone trees

XYZ1000

Hi  I am a new homeowner so am a newbie to home improvements so sorry if it sounds quite a simple question ........I want to put a drive in my front garden.( council have been out in regards to permission for dropping the curb) however firstly I have to get the land prepared . At the moment it has fir cone trees as a hedge in the way that I need to get out. I am not sure who to ask. Do I approach tree surgeons for this?  Or garden companies . Or do you go to companies to do driveways and see if it would all be done as one job? Also how do you know about pricing for things like this it just from getting a few quotes from different people? 

Thank you 

Mickey666

I’m guessing you don’t have your own chainsaw
Pine trees are unlikely to come under a tree protection order but it’s worth checking as the fines can be high.  Otherwise, if they are relatively small then a gardener might be willing to remove them.  I doubt that a driveway contractor would remove them, though they might subcontract the work.  No harm in asking.

If the trees are large and/or potentially risky to fell then it’s probably a tree surgeon job.  Not really possible to judge price without seeing the trees or their surroundings so it’s really just a case of getting a number of quotes.  Expect quotes in the several hundreds though.  Also, don’t forget the cost of stump removal.

XYZ1000

Ah thanks that’s really helpful. No I don’t have a chainsaw wouldn’t trust myself 😆. They are roughly about 7 foot high by 10 foot wide at a guess. Is the stump removal a separate price to getting the hedge down.? 

Mickey666

7 ft high is no big deal and a competent gardener should be able to remove such trees.   Stump removal is not ‘separate’ as such but it generally involves a specialist machine and a gardener is unlikely to own one (they can be very expensive), so would probably need to hire one.  For that size of tree (more of a hedge really) I’d contact gardeners first rather than tree surgeons,  but no harm getting quotes from both.