This guide is written for tree surgery business owners working out what to charge. If you're a homeowner trying to sanity-check a quote, it will serve you just as well: understanding how a professional builds a price tells you exactly why quotes vary and which cheap ones to be wary of.
We haven't invented the figures. They come from two published sources: MyBuilder's tree surgeon cost guide, a national aggregator, updated 21 August 2026, and the 2026 price guide published by Gem Tree Management, a Watford contractor, in April 2026. Read them side by side and the gap between them is the most useful thing on this page.
Tree surgeon prices in 2026: typical job ranges
| Job | MyBuilder (national, Aug 2026) | Gem Tree Management (Herts contractor, Apr 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Small tree removal | £200 to £500 | Small to medium felling: £400 to £2,500 |
| Medium tree removal | £500 to £1,000 | |
| Large tree removal or dismantle | £1,000 to £1,500+ | Large or complex: £2,500 to £5,000+ |
| Crown reduction or pruning | £200 to £1,000 | £350 to £1,500 |
| Pollarding | not listed | £400 to £1,800 |
| Stump grinding | £50 to £300 | £100 to £400 |
| Hedge trimming | £100 to £500 | £150 to £600 |
| Emergency work | £400 to £1,500 | £500 to £2,500 |
| Site clearance | not listed | £1,500 to £5,000+ |
| Arborist's report | £150 to £300 | not listed |
Two things to notice. The contractor's figures sit above the aggregator's at almost every line, and a long way above on large removals. That's not one of them being wrong. An aggregator averages every quote its users post, including the cheap ones, across the whole country; a contractor in the Home Counties pricing sectional dismantles over conservatories is describing a different job. If your prices sit at the bottom of the national range, or below it, ask whether you're genuinely cheaper to run than everyone else or simply not counting all your costs. For most businesses it's the latter.
Day rates by team size and region
MyBuilder's guide also publishes day rates, which are the more useful figure for pricing your own work:
| Team | Typical day rate (MyBuilder, Aug 2026) |
|---|---|
| One operative | £250 to £400 |
| Two-person team | £400 to £700 |
| Three-person team | £600 to £1,000 |
And by location, for a team:
| Area | Typical team day rate |
|---|---|
| London | £700 to £1,200 |
| Edinburgh | £500 to £800 |
| Birmingham | £450 to £750 |
| Coventry | £420 to £680 |
| Nottingham | £400 to £650 |
The same guide tells homeowners that emergency call-outs typically start at £400 and that a tree surgeon should carry public liability insurance of at least £5 million. That second point is worth knowing: the price guides your customers read are now telling them to check your cover, so put it on your website and your quotes. Our insurance guide covers what the trade carries.
What affects the cost of tree surgery
Whether you're pricing the work or paying for it, the cost of a job comes down to a handful of factors:
- The size of the tree. A large tree takes longer, produces far more waste and often needs rigging. Size is the biggest single cost driver.
- Species and condition. Dense hardwoods mean slower cutting and heavier timber than softwoods, and a dangerous or diseased tree needs extra planning.
- Access and position. With room to fell in one piece, felling is quick. Close to a building it has to be dismantled in sections, which takes far longer. That's why it can cost more to take down a modest tree in a terraced back garden than a much bigger one in an open field.
- Location. Labour and disposal rates vary by region, as the day-rate table shows.
- Number of trees. Several trees in one visit share the travel and setup, so the price per tree usually comes down.
- Protection status. If a tree is covered by a TPO or stands in a conservation area, nobody can legally work on it without the council's consent or a notice period, and the paperwork takes hours. Our TPO guide explains the process; charging for it is covered below.
Underpricing is the most common mistake in the trade
Ask around and you'll hear the same story everywhere: a skilled climber goes out on their own, prices jobs by looking at what the firm down the road charges, stays flat out for two years, and has almost nothing to show for it. Busy isn't the same as profitable.
The problem is pricing against other firms rather than against your own costs. The local market is often anchored by businesses that are themselves underpricing: part-timers without proper insurance, firms that haven't costed their kit replacement, new starters buying work to fill the diary. Copy their prices and you inherit their losses. Underpricing also leaves nothing for the things that grow a business: replacing the chipper before it dies mid-season, training staff, and marketing, which, as our guide to how much a tree surgeon should spend on marketing explains, comes out of margin.
How to build a price rather than guess one
A proper price is built from the bottom up. For any job, work through:
- Labour. Everyone on site, for the full duration, including travel, setup and clean-up. If you're on the job, your time counts too, at a proper rate.
- Kit replacement. A chipper, saws, climbing kit and a truck are a serious outlay and all of it wears out. Every working day needs to contribute towards replacing it.
- Waste. Green waste has to be tipped unless you have your own outlet for chip and logs. Price the actual volume.
- Travel. Fuel, wear and the dead time getting a team and a truck to site. A job 45 minutes away costs more to deliver than one round the corner.
- Insurance and overheads. Public liability, employers' liability, vehicle insurance, certificates, phone, software, accountancy. Divide the annual total by your realistic number of working days and add it to every day.
- Margin. After all of that, a genuine profit margin as a line item. It pays for growth, quiet winters and the day the gearbox goes.
Do this a few times and you'll have a reliable day rate and a set of job-type baselines, and you'll quote from evidence rather than nerves. If you're planning a second team, the day rate has to carry it on quiet days too; our guide to growing a tree surgery business goes through that maths.
When to charge more
Some work justifies a premium, and you should charge it without apology:
- Emergency call-outs. A storm-damaged tree on a car at 9pm isn't a standard job. You're reorganising your schedule, working in worse conditions and taking on more risk. Both published guides show emergency work priced well above routine work, and it should be.
- TPO and conservation area work. Checking whether a tree is protected, writing the application in the language the tree officer needs, and managing the six or eight weeks is skilled admin that takes real hours. Charge for it. It's part of the professional service and precisely what the cheap unqualified quote doesn't include.
- Difficult access. No side access, everything through the house, working next to power lines, rigging over a glass roof. Harder, slower, riskier work costs more.
- Crane and MEWP jobs. Plant hire, extra planning and road permits go on the price, plus your margin on managing them. Passing hire costs through at cost is another quiet way to work for free.
Why the cheapest quote loses the best work
Being the cheapest quote often costs you jobs. Nearly every firm quotes for free, so a homeowner collects two or three and compares. Price is a signal. When the quotes are £450, £800 and £850, the outlier doesn't look like a bargain; it looks like a risk. Is he insured? Will the waste actually go? Will he turn up? For work involving a chainsaw, ropes and the roof of someone's house, most customers aren't shopping on price alone. They're shopping on confidence.
So the real pricing lever is everything around the number that justifies it:
- Reviews. A long run of detailed Google reviews does more to justify an £850 quote than anything you could say yourself. If your review profile is thin, that's the first fix, and it's what our reputation management service exists for.
- Photos of similar jobs. Three photos of you dismantling a tree just like theirs, sent with the quote, close the gap between £450 and £800 faster than any wording. Our guide to building a tree surgery portfolio covers what to shoot.
- Branding. A clean sign-written truck, proper uniforms, a tidy quote document and a website that doesn't look homemade all say the same thing: this business will still exist if something goes wrong. That's what professional branding buys you, permission to charge properly.
- The quote itself. Written, itemised, explaining the job, confirming insurance and setting out what happens to the waste. It beats a number scribbled on the back of a card even when the number is higher.
The businesses stuck competing at £450 are the ones that give the customer nothing else to judge them on. Don't be the cheapest. Be the one they trust with the tree next to the conservatory.
Putting it into practice
Build your day rate from your real costs, hold your ranges with confidence, charge properly for emergencies, admin and access, and invest in the reviews, photos and branding that let those prices stand up. Pricing and marketing aren't separate problems. Strong marketing is what makes strong pricing possible. If you'd like an honest outside view on whether your marketing supports the prices you should be charging, request a free video audit. And for what all this translates to in your pocket, see our companion guide on how much tree surgeons earn.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a tree surgeon cost per day in the UK?
MyBuilder's price guide, updated in August 2026, puts a single operative at £250 to £400 a day, a two-person team at £400 to £700 and a three-person team at £600 to £1,000. Team day rates run higher in London (£700 to £1,200) and vary by region. A day rate should cover labour, kit replacement, insurance, waste disposal, travel and a genuine profit margin, not just wages.
How much does tree removal cost in the UK?
MyBuilder's 2026 guide gives £200 to £500 for a small tree, £500 to £1,000 for a medium tree and £1,000 to £1,500 or more for a large one. A Hertfordshire contractor's published 2026 price list puts small to medium felling at £400 to £2,500 and large or complex dismantles at £2,500 to £5,000 and up, which shows how much access, position and waste volume change the number.
Why do tree surgeon quotes vary so much?
Because the underlying costs vary. Access, proximity to buildings and power lines, whether the tree can be felled or must be dismantled in sections, waste volume, TPO or conservation area paperwork, and regional labour costs all change the price. A very cheap quote often means the business hasn't priced in insurance, disposal or qualified staff, which is a risk for the customer, not a bargain.
Should tree surgeons publish their prices?
Publishing exact prices is difficult because every tree and every site is different, but publishing typical ranges or starting-from prices works well. It filters out enquiries with unrealistic budgets, builds trust with serious customers and positions you as transparent. Pair published ranges with a clear note that final prices depend on access, size and site conditions, and confirm with a site visit or photos before committing.