Tree Surgery

Tree surgery is the periodic pruning, assessment and where needed removal of trees to keep them healthy, safe and proportionate to their surroundings. Pruning includes removing deadwood, taking out crossing branches, opening up the crown and — where needed — bringing the size down with a crown reduction. With fruit trees this happens via fruit-wood pruning, where old branches make way for new growth points so the tree produces again. Larger jobs, like correcting a leaning tree, repairing storm damage, or safely felling a specimen next to a shed or fence, are carried out with climbing techniques or a cherry picker, in controlled sections, including disposal of branches and trunk wood.

Our approach to tree surgery

1. Tree assessment on site — we check condition, growing position, surroundings and any risks to buildings, services or traffic.
2. Advice with options — not every tree needs pruning or felling. Where possible we explain what less invasive options exist.
3. Permit where needed — for trunk diameters above the local threshold we apply for a felling permit upfront and wait for approval.
4. Execution and disposal — pruning or felling with cherry picker or climbing techniques depending on access. Branches and trunk wood get taken away; chipped or in blocks, by arrangement.

What we watch for in tree surgery

An old apple tree barely producing fruit anymore but full of leaf — it's one of the most common reasons clients call. Usually nothing's wrong with the tree, but it hasn't had a thinning or fruit-wood prune for years.

Without regular thinning, the crown grows so dense that the inner part no longer gets light. Flowering shifts ever further to the outer edges, and the tree mostly produces leaf mass instead of fruit wood. With older trees deadwood can also form in the heart of the crown, which becomes a breakage risk in storms. The solution rarely lies in one harsh intervention — rejuvenation pruning over two or three seasons works better than taking everything out at once.

In practice we then do a thinning first: deadwood out, crossing branches selectively removed, light gaps made in the crown. The next season follows targeted fruit-wood pruning, and on big trees we use climbing techniques to avoid damaging the undergrowth. Where a tree can't be saved or poses a hazard, we fell it in controlled sections — climbing gear or cherry picker, depending on the situation.

Tree surgery in Purmerend and surroundings

In our region tree surgery often calls for extra attention because of soil conditions. In Edam-Volendam and surrounding polder villages many trees grow on ground with a high water table — roots stay shallow, raising the windthrow risk in storms. In older parts of Purmerend and Diemen we see trees from the '70s and '80s nearing the end of their natural growing time and needing more guidance. And in Zaanstreek we regularly come across fruit trees from the time when many private gardens still kept a small orchard — they benefit from targeted fruit-wood pruning to become productive again. See the service area page for all the places we cover.

Why clients choose us for tree surgery

• Advice without overselling — a healthy tree doesn't need pruning. Where a client thinks everything has to come back, we first check whether a targeted intervention is enough. Saves cost and preserves growth capacity.
• Climbing technique or cherry picker, the right call — depending on access and risk to the garden. No unnecessary tyre tracks in your lawn when climbing will do.
• Everything by one party — from permit application to chipping prunings afterwards. No separate subcontractors to manage.

Doubting about a tree in your garden? A brief inspection often settles whether something really has to happen. We work throughout Purmerend, Zaandam, Hoorn, Diemen and Edam-Volendam. For regular maintenance where smaller tree pruning fits in, see garden maintenance.