“Plant the right tree in the right place.
Create innovative building designs that give trees space to grow.
Grow beautiful trees in groups.
Proper establishment of young trees.
Remove the obstacle not the tree.
Early training regulates size and shape of trees.
Proper care for old trees, and respect for their dignity.
People touching trees, and learning how they work, before they work on them.
Stopping treatments that destroy defence systems.
Stopping treatments that cause serious internal injuries.
Stopping treatments that start other problems.
Stopping treatments that injure and kill transplanted trees.”

Formative Pruning – the purpose of formative pruning is to help the young tree to develop into a strong well shaped tree. The structure of the tree can be improved by selective branch removal to ensure a good crown structure.

Crown Lifting – is the removal of the lowest branches of the canopy. This is carried out for a number of different reasons; to bring more light into a garden and to provide clearance for pedestrians, vehicles, signs and views.

Crown Cleaning - is the removal of dead, dying, crossing and weak branches within the crown of the tree. This improves the appearance of the tree and reduces the risk of falling branches.

Ivy Removal – whilst it is true that ivy is a haven for wildlife, on a tree it can have disastrous consequences. In winter, when a tree has lost its leaf canopy strong wind currents pass in the main harmlessly through the crown. However trees that are heavily congested with ivy act as if they are a sail and can be brought down.

Stump Removal – there are two ways to remove a tree stump: dig it out by hand or with a mechanical digger or use a stumpgrinder. HorticMan Ltd will where possible utilise a stumpgrinder which grinds the stump to at least 6 – 12 inches below ground level and reduces the stump to a pile of woodchip / soil. This method is environmentally friendly, avoids unnecessary ground damage and reduces labour time.

Garden Services

Q.  What size is my garden?

To help homeowners calculate the size of their gardens, consider using the dimensions of a     tennis court as a guide e.g.

1. Compact - half a tennis court
2. Medium - 1 tennis court
3. Large - 3 tennis courts (approx half an acre)
4. Larger - 6 tennis courts (approx one acre)
5. Extra Large - 1 football pitch (approx 1.5 acres)

Q. What do I do with tough overgrown grass and vegetation?

There are a number of solutions and it is best that you contact a professional such as HorticMan, who will be able to recommend the right solution. As an example, the vegetation may be controlled by chemical (herbicides) or mechanical (brushcutters or mowers)

Q. What's Ragwort?

• Common Ragwort (enecio jacobaeais) contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is one of the most frequent causes of plant poisoning of livestock in Britain
• Ragwort is also harmful to humans, it can enter the bloodstream through the skin
• Ragwort acts as a cumulative poison, eventually destroying the liver
• Each plant can produce up to 150,000 seeds with a 70% germination rate and the seeds can lay dormant in the soil for up to 20 years
• The toxins in Ragwort are not destroyed by cutting, pulling or digging up
• Common Ragwort is one of five injurious weeds specified in the Weeds Act 1959, the Act does not make it illegal to have Ragwort growing on land. It is concerned with controlling the spread of the weed to adjacent land.