For a tree surgeon no two jobs are the same and a typical day to day could involve anything from pruning a hedge to climbing trees over 50 ft tall. It’s the diversity of work, as well as the excitement that comes with the job that makes tree surgery one of the best careers, especially if you love the outdoors and adventures!
We spoke to our lovely tree surgeon, Matt to see what a typical day for him is like and what he loves most about being a tree surgeon in Manchester.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you?
A: It really changes a lot dependent on what work we have on, where it is we will be going, what equipment we will be using etc., but generally it will involve driving to the customer, listening to and understanding their requirements and assessing any risks that may be involved. From there we will begin our work, which a lot of the time is carried out in the same day, remove any debris when we’ve finished and then head back to the yard to clean all the tools before starting our next job.
Q: What is your favourite part of being a tree surgeon?
A: My favourite part of the job has to be climbing trees, which is pretty much a childhood dream come true – who wouldn’t love to do that all day? Some of the trees we have to climb are really tall so a lot of the time I really do feel like a monkey. When people see tree surgeons swinging from a harness up a tree they don’t always realise that they’ve had to climb up it in the first place, which takes a great deal of skill and strength. The harder or taller the tree the bigger the challenge in my eyes.
The other thing I love is the customer service side of the job, as nothing beats seeing a customer’s smiling face after a hard day’s work is complete. Knowing that I’ve done that makes me really proud.
Q: What questions are you asked the most by clients?
Customers typically have a lot of questions, which is great because we love answering them! There are three questions however that crop up the most:
- How long will the job take? This completely depends on what work you’re having done and the complexity of it, but typically most of our jobs are completed in a day.
- Are you fully insured? Yes we are, so you can rest assured knowing you’re in safe hands. We’re also fully City and Guilds qualified and you can find out more about this on our tree surgery health and safety page.
- How do you do the job? Again this depends on the work you’re having done, but whatever it is we carry it out to the highest of standards.
Q: What is the most dangerous job you’ve ever done?
The most dangerous job I’ve carried out was felling a large beech tree that had died. I climbed all the way to the top, anchored myself in and transcended down the tree. When I got where I needed to be I threw my lanyard around the tree and tightened myself up but the next minute the branch snapped on us! Luckily we were all ok and managed to remove the tree with no injuries.
Q: How do you go about being environmentally friendly?
Felling certain trees can actually be incredibly environmentally friendly as if one is diseased and left untreated the disease can spread to other trees and surrounding plants eventually leading to death. Where a tree is removed for other reasons we try to encourage customers to plant a new one elsewhere. Where possible we also use battery powered saws, hedge trimmers and blowers.
Q: How do you go about minimising nature disruption?
We check all trees and hedges thoroughly before starting a job and safely move anything that we can ourselves. If there is a birds nest present we have to fill out a report stating this, as well as if they can be safely moved elsewhere, if we will endanger the birds if the tree is cut etc.
Q: What is the hardest job you’ve ever done?
The hardest job was a willow tree that was hanging over a conservatory – we had to lower 8 inch logs down without smashing the roof, that was a lot of pressure, but we did it and the conservatory is still intact, in fact it looked better than ever!
Q: What is typically the hardest tree to fell?
The hardest tree I’ve found over the years is a Poplar Tree, simply because it’s really easy for the branches to snap on you.
Q: What are the worst weather conditions you’ve had to work in?
A: A lot of people think it would be the rain, but since we get so much of it in the UK we are actually used to it. The worst weather conditions I’ve worked in would have been cutting down an apple tree whilst it was snowing.
Q: Finally, what advice would you give someone wanting to become a tree surgeon?
A: Firstly make sure you have a head for heights, otherwise this job isn’t for you, and then go in all guns blazing! The reward at the end is just fantastic and I think it’s the best job in the world to do. You get to meet so many new people and every job is different so you’re always learning and never know what your next challenge will be. I love that.
Tree surgery definitely isn’t for the faint hearted, but after reading that we want to get out of the office and become one! Any jobs going, Matt? If like us you’re now wanting to become a tree surgeon, check out our next post, how to prune a tree.