11/06/2026
When you pay a professional to look at your tree, the advice is the bit you're actually paying for. Ignoring it is the expensive part.
Here's a live example, because we're right in the middle of it.
It's bird nesting season. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, disturbing or destroying an active nest is a criminal offence. Not a guideline, an actual offence, with an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison behind it.
And the part most people don't realise: the blackbird in your hedge has exactly the same legal protection as a peregrine falcon.
So between roughly March and October, before we touch a hedge or a tree, we check. Properly.
If there's an active nest in the way, our honest advice is usually to leave that work until the birds have fledged. Sometimes a client would rather press on, and that's their call. But it's worth knowing what that can mean.
If we start, find an active nest, and have to stop, the job doesn't just pause. We have to come back another day to finish it once the nest is clear.
A return visit is a second mobilisation, and that can add cost that simply wouldn't exist if the work had waited a few weeks in the first place.
That's the whole point of the advice.
It isn't us being awkward. It's us trying to save you money, hassle and a legal problem, all at once.
The contractor who checks, explains, and tells you the smart play isn't going the extra mile.
That's just the job, done properly.
