Tree Surgeon in Collingham — Trent Valley and NG23 Specialists
TB Tree Care work across North and South Collingham and the surrounding NG23 villages, including Besthorpe, Langford, Winthorpe, Brough and Danethorpe. NPTC-certified surgeons, £5M public liability cover, free same-day quotes.
Collingham sits in the River Trent corridor between the A46 and the A1, with The Fleet running along the western edge of the village under Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board management. That setting shapes almost every tree job here. Ground that floods and then drains holds root plates far less securely than it looks, which is why this village sees whole-tree windthrow where drier parishes see broken limbs.
- Locally trusted and rated ★★★★★ by customers
- NPTC-certified, fully insured arborists
- Free same-day quotes across NG23
- Floodplain and riparian tree experience
- Newark & Sherwood TPO applications handled
- All waste removed, site left clean
Based in Shirebrook · covering Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire
Request a FREE Quote
Most Collingham quote requests get a same-day response. For storm damage or a tree that looks unstable after high water, call 07949 268926 directly — we are usually on site within hours.
Amazing work done by Tom and his team came out last minute to do a job for us and we are so grateful would highly recommend him to anyone!
Helen Hinchliff
Oct 2025
Great job done by Tom and his team! 100% recommend. Five star all round 😃
Kate Finn
Aug 2025
Brilliant job from Tom and the team - friendly, reliable and well priced. All mess was cleared away and Tom made sure we were 100% happy with the job, chopping more off the tree as we asked. 5 star service and highly recommend A*
Natalie Rumsey
Jun 2025
A fantastic job done removing my three conifer trees. On time well actually early! Very professional, polite and friendly. They left everything tidy and took all the rubbish with them. Would definitely recommend Tom and his team. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mandy Moore
Jun 2025
Tom was really professional very good job done of my conifers would definitely recommend *****
Carol Dockwray
May 2025
Excellent work. Did exactly what we wanted. Extremely friendly and good advice. Definitely recommend.
Jane Fretwell
May 2025
Had to get rid of a tree before viewings on our house. Tom was professional and efficient. Got the job done quickly for a good price. Left everything clear and tidy. Thanks Tom
Siobhan Meades
May 2025
had Tom and his crew in today to rip out an unsightly overgrown hawthorn hedge and grind the stumps, splendid job and the garden left clean and tidy, can highly recommend their services
Brian Reuben James
Apr 2025
A truly professional service, fantastic knowledge and offers no obligation advice if you’re not sure what you need. Came and took an exceptionally large Laurel tree down for me, fully cleared and tidied, left my garden with so much more light (and sunshine when we get it) would definitely recommend.
Diane Hayden
Feb 2025
TB Tree care, Initial opinion completely professional. Polite at all times. When asked to do more work we agreed then and there and was very happy to go ahead. Never felt pressured or anything. I would recommend Tom for this service. five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scraton Alexzander
Feb 2025
What flooding does to Collingham trees
The Trent floods here, and it floods properly — Storm Henk in January 2024 put water through the village and across the surrounding farmland, and it was not the first time. What most people do not realise is that the damage to trees shows up months afterwards, not during the flood.
Prolonged saturation starves roots of oxygen and kills the fine feeding roots that anchor a tree and take up water. The canopy often looks fine through the following spring, then thins sharply in the second season as the tree fails to keep up with demand. Meanwhile the structural roots sit in ground that has lost its cohesion, so anchorage is reduced well before anything is visibly wrong. A tree that stood through the flood is not necessarily a tree that survived it.
We assess for post-flood decline
On a Collingham inspection we look specifically for the pattern that follows inundation — crown thinning from the top down, small pale leaves, dieback in the outer canopy, and soil cracking or lifting on one side of the base. Catching that in the second season is far cheaper than dealing with the failure.
Riparian and drainage channel work
Trees along The Fleet and the Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board channels need handling differently: no arisings in the watercourse, bank stability assessed before machinery approaches, and controlled lowering rather than free drop. Drainage boards take obstruction of a channel seriously and so do we.
Newark & Sherwood consent handled
Newark and Sherwood District Council administers the TPO register and conservation area designations for Collingham and the NG23 villages. We confirm status against your address before quoting and submit the notice or application on your behalf, tracked through to determination.
Get a free Collingham quote
Call 07949 268926 for a free, no-obligation quote on tree work in Collingham or the surrounding NG23 villages. Most quotes issued the same working day. For storm damage or a tree that has moved, call rather than using the form.
Tree Removal & Felling in Collingham
Removals around Collingham fall into recognisable groups:
- Crack willow and poplar along The Fleet and the Trent bank, brittle by nature and worse after flooding
- Ash in advanced dieback across the hedgerows and field boundaries towards Besthorpe and Langford
- Mature trees in decline two or three seasons after inundation, where the root system never recovered
- Oversized garden conifers on the newer NG23 estates that have outgrown their plots
The village plots are generally larger than a town garden, so directional felling is often possible — which keeps the cost down. Where a tree stands over a building, a boundary or a watercourse we dismantle it in rigged sections instead.
What is included with removal
A full site survey first: TPO and conservation status confirmed with Newark and Sherwood District Council, overhead lines and buried services located, ground and root anchorage assessed, and bat and nesting checks completed. The method is agreed with you in writing before anyone climbs.
Working on saturated ground
Heavy machinery on a wet floodplain does real damage and can sink. We use ground protection where plant has to cross soft ground, and we will time non-urgent work for a drier spell rather than churning a paddock or a lawn to get a job done a fortnight sooner.
Crown Reduction & Pruning
Most Collingham pruning work is on mature broadleaves in village gardens — limes, horse chestnuts, sycamores and oaks that were planted when the plots were laid out and are now considerably larger than intended. Crown reduction brings them back into proportion without losing the tree.
Reduction has a second benefit on this ground that matters more here than in most places: cutting the sail area of a crown reduces the leverage the wind can apply to a root plate that may already be compromised by flooding. On an exposed Trent-side tree with a suspect root system, a staged reduction is frequently the alternative to removal.
What our pruning covers
Crown reduction, thinning, lifting, deadwood removal and selective limb shortening, specified to BS3998. We assess for decay, cavities, included bark unions and dieback before setting reduction points, so the tree stays balanced and stable afterwards.
Reduction as an alternative to felling
Where a large tree has reduced anchorage but is otherwise healthy, taking twenty to thirty per cent off the crown can bring the wind loading back within what the roots can hold. It is not always the answer, but it is worth assessing before committing to a removal.
Stump Grinding in Collingham
Willow and poplar are the two most persistent stumps we deal with anywhere in the Trent valley. Leave a crack willow stump in wet ground and it will throw a dozen new stems in a single season, and on the damp soils around The Fleet they establish faster than almost anywhere else we work. We grind out to 200–300mm below ground level, which removes the root collar the regrowth comes from and leaves the ground ready to turf, plant or surface. On the larger village plots access is rarely a problem, so grinding here is usually quick and correspondingly cheaper than the same job in a town garden.
Why grinding matters on wet ground
Damp soil keeps willow, poplar and alder root systems alive and suckering for years after the stem has gone. Grinding removes the collar that drives regrowth, and takes out the decaying timber that would otherwise become a honey fungus source in an established garden.
Backfill or remove the chippings
Grinding produces more chip than the stump appears to hold. We can rake it back into the void, which settles over a few months at no extra cost, or take it away and backfill with topsoil so the ground is level and usable straight away.
Emergency Tree Work in the Trent Villages
Collingham''s emergencies follow the water. High river levels and saturated ground are what bring trees down here, and the failures tend to be whole-tree windthrow rather than limb loss, because the root plate lets go before the timber does. The open farmland between Collingham, Besthorpe and Langford offers no shelter from westerly wind either.
We attend across the NG23 villages within hours. The immediate hazard is dealt with first — hung-up and suspended sections brought down under rigging control — and full clearance follows once the site is stable. For anything urgent call 07949 268926 rather than using the form.
After the water goes down
If a tree has stood in floodwater, look at the base once the ground is walkable: cracked or heaved soil on one side, a lean that was not there before, or exposed roots all warrant an assessment. The tree may be fine, but this is the point at which it is worth knowing.
Access during and after flooding
We will not put a chipper or a truck onto a saturated paddock if it can wait — the damage costs more to repair than the job. For genuine emergencies we work with lighter kit and hand extraction where we have to, and come back for the clearance when the ground allows.
Hedge Trimming in Collingham
Hedge work in the NG23 villages divides between garden hedges — leylandii, privet, beech and hornbeam on the village plots and the newer estates — and the long mixed native boundaries that run between paddocks and fields towards Besthorpe, Langford and Brough. The rural hedgerows need cutting on a rotation that keeps them thick and stockproof rather than an annual scalp, which is a different job requiring different equipment. See our hedge trimming in Newark page for the full service detail.
Field boundaries and garden hedges
Long native hedgerows of hawthorn, blackthorn and mixed species are cut to a rotation that maintains density at the base. Garden hedges are cut to an agreed height and width with a clean defined finish and every trimming cleared from site.
Nesting bird law
It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to damage or destroy an active nest. Hedgerows on this ground carry high nesting densities, so we check before cutting between March and August and leave any section with an active nest until the birds have fledged.
TPO & Conservation Area Work
Newark and Sherwood District Council is the planning authority for Collingham and the surrounding NG23 villages, holding both the Tree Preservation Order register and the conservation area mapping. Under Section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, six weeks written notice is required before cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting any tree in a conservation area — during which the council can consent, or serve a TPO to protect the tree permanently. Trees already under an order need a formal application and a determination instead. Unauthorised work is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine, with replacement planting enforceable under sections 206 and 207.
What we check and submit
We confirm the designation status of every tree before quoting, prepare the Section 211 notice or the formal application, submit it to Newark and Sherwood District Council on your behalf, and track it to determination. No work starts until the period has run or consent is confirmed in writing.
Dangerous trees and the exemption
There is an exemption for work needed to remove an immediate danger, but it is narrower than people assume and the council still has to be notified with the justification recorded. We photograph the condition before cutting so the exemption can actually be evidenced if it is ever questioned.
Farm, Paddock and Estate Work
A large share of our NG23 work is agricultural rather than domestic — hedgerow and boundary trees on the arable land between Collingham, Besthorpe and Langford, shelter belts, riverside willows and the trees around paddocks and stable yards. We carry out scheduled surveys, deadwood clearance over stock and access tracks, storm response under contract, and BS5837 surveys where land is coming forward for planning. Full RAMS documentation, £5M public liability insurance and 30-day invoice terms.
Trees over stock and machinery
Deadwood over a gateway, a stock shelter or a machinery run is a liability that is easy to overlook until something drops. We survey on a rolling schedule, clear what needs clearing, and give you a written record of what was inspected and when.
Drainage board channels
Trees along Internal Drainage Board watercourses have to be managed so the channel stays clear and the banks stay stable. We work to that constraint, keep all arisings out of the water, and can liaise with the board directly where consent or notification is needed.
TB Tree Care — your Collingham tree surgeons
Tree Surgeon Collingham — FAQs
My trees stood in floodwater — are they damaged?
Possibly, and the signs usually appear a season or two later rather than immediately. Prolonged saturation kills the fine feeding roots that anchor a tree and take up water, so the canopy thins in the following years while anchorage is already reduced. Cracked or heaved soil at the base, a new lean, or top-down crown thinning are all worth an inspection.
Do I need permission to do tree work in Collingham?
You do if the tree carries a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area, both administered by Newark and Sherwood District Council. Conservation area work needs six weeks written notice; TPO trees need a formal application and determination. We check your address against the register before quoting and handle whichever process applies.
Can you work on trees along The Fleet and the Trent bank?
Yes, and it is a regular part of our work here. Riverside and drainage channel work means controlled lowering rather than free drop, no arisings entering the watercourse, and bank stability assessed before machinery goes near the edge. We can liaise with the Internal Drainage Board where notification is needed.
Are you insured and qualified?
Yes. Every climber holds NPTC certification in chainsaw operation, aerial rescue and rope access, and all work follows BS3998. We carry £5 million public liability insurance and full employer's liability cover, with certificates available on request before work begins.
Do you deal with ash dieback around Collingham?
Regularly — it is well established through the hedgerow and field ash towards Besthorpe, Langford and Brough. Infected ash goes brittle and unpredictable, which makes late felling both more dangerous and considerably more expensive. We assess the infection stage and advise whether the tree can be monitored or needs to come down.
Will heavy machinery damage my paddock or lawn?
It can, particularly on the wet ground round here. We use ground protection boards where plant has to cross soft ground, and for non-urgent work we will happily wait for a drier spell rather than churning up a field to finish a job a fortnight earlier.
How quickly can you attend an emergency?
Most emergency call-outs across Collingham and the NG23 villages are attended within hours. Call 07949 268926 directly rather than using the form. Out-of-hours attendance is available for genuine hazards, and we provide written incident reports where an insurance claim is involved.
Do you cover Besthorpe, Langford and Winthorpe?
Yes — North and South Collingham plus the surrounding NG23 villages including Besthorpe, Langford, Winthorpe, Brough and Danethorpe, and the wider Newark and Sherwood district. There is no call-out charge anywhere in the area.