Tree Care Conversation Preparation Checklist

Mark each tree on a rough sketch of the plot and give it a plain name of your own, such as the one behind the shed, so everyone is discussing the same tree.

Naming trees on paper removes one of the commonest sources of confusion on site, and it lets you refer back to notes made on different visits.

Note what each canopy reaches over, whether that is paving, a lawn, a roof, a shed or the far side of a fence, described by what it covers rather than by measurement.

What a canopy sits above decides most of what is discussed later, and an owner can record it accurately without any equipment.

Note which side of the boundary each trunk stands on, and separately where the canopy crosses, because those two answers are frequently different.

Where the trunk stands and where the branches reach are treated quite differently, and confusing them causes avoidable disputes.

Ownership of a tree and what may be done where a canopy crosses a boundary are matters for the neighbour and a suitably qualified adviser, not for assumption.

Write down whatever you were told about the trees when you took the property on, including anything a previous owner mentioned having done to them.

Hearsay is still evidence at this stage, and a professional can weigh it far better than they can weigh a blank.

Gather any paperwork covering work carried out on the trees before your time, including who attended and what was proposed but not done.

Previous work explains a great deal about a tree's present shape, and its absence from the conversation leads to the same questions being asked twice.

Photograph each tree from the same standing spot when it is in leaf and again when it is bare, and note where you stood so the shot can be repeated.

A repeatable viewpoint turns photographs into a comparison rather than a collection, which is what makes change visible later.

Note where you have seen bare or broken branches, and whether they appeared after a storm or came on gradually, without drawing any conclusion about the reason.

Whether a change was sudden or gradual is one of the first things an arborist asks, and it is precisely what a visit alone cannot reveal.

Anything concerning the condition or stability of a tree is for a qualified arborist to assess on site; do not climb, cut or test a tree to find out.

Record anything growing on the trunk, at the base or on exposed roots, and photograph it where it is rather than pulling it off first.

Its position, size and stage all matter to a professional, and removing it destroys most of what could have been read from it.

Growth on a trunk or root may be significant or entirely unremarkable, and only a qualified arborist can tell you which it is here.

Write down whether the tree has always leaned as it does now, or whether you have noticed the lean or the ground around the base change.

A long-standing lean and a new one are very different matters, and only someone who has watched the tree can say which this is.

Any suspicion that a tree or the ground around it has moved should be raised with a qualified arborist promptly rather than watched for longer.

Note any lifting paving, cracked surface or disturbed ground near the base, and mark on your sketch where it sits in relation to the trunk.

Position relative to the trunk is what makes such observations useful, and it is easily lost when described from memory.

Record whether the canopy came into leaf later, thinner or more patchily than you remember, and which part of the tree it affected.

Owners notice this well before anyone else does, and which part of the canopy is affected is more informative than the fact of it.

Keep a note of what comes down after strong wind and roughly where it lands, since the landing area shows what would be beneath anything larger.

What sits under a tree matters as much as the tree itself when a professional considers how to prioritise attention.

Confirm with the local authority whether any tree here is protected or stands in an area carrying additional requirements, and do so before work is discussed with anyone.

This single enquiry changes what can be considered at all, and making it early avoids planning around an option that was never available.

Only the local authority can confirm what protection applies to a tree, and work carried out without that confirmation can have serious consequences.

Check your deeds, lease or tenancy paperwork for anything said about trees, hedges or planting, and note what you find alongside your tree record.

Obligations about trees are sometimes written into property paperwork and are almost never remembered until they are looked for.

Note whether any tree in the conversation stands on a verge, a shared drive or communal ground, and ask the local authority or managing party who is responsible for it.

Responsibility for trees just outside the boundary is regularly misunderstood, and the answer decides who you should be talking to at all.

Responsibility for a tree outside your boundary is established by the local authority or the party managing that ground, not by the adjoining owner.

Ask a qualified arborist what must be established about nesting birds, bats or other wildlife before any work is planned, and write the answer into your notes.

This question shapes when anything can happen, and asking it early prevents an arrangement being made that then has to be unpicked.

Wildlife using a tree may carry legal protection that varies locally; the qualified arborist and the relevant authority establish what applies here.

Consider telling neighbours what you are looking into before anything is arranged, particularly where a canopy, shade or leaf fall affects their side.

Tree work is noisy, visible and hard to reverse, and a conversation beforehand is far easier than an explanation afterwards.

Ask a suitably qualified adviser what applies where a trunk straddles a boundary or sits in a shared area, rather than assuming who is entitled to decide.

Shared trees carry questions that are legal rather than horticultural, and they are more easily answered before anyone is asked to attend.

Write down which rooms lose light to a tree and at which part of the day, judged from inside the room rather than from out in the garden.

Light indoors is what people actually mind about, and it is judged very differently from the lawn than from an armchair.

Note which beds, lawn areas and seating spots sit under the canopy, since that shade is a condition the rest of the garden has to be planned around.

Canopy shade is the strongest influence on what else can be considered nearby, so it belongs in the record before any planting is discussed.

Record where leaves, fruit, needles or sap land, whether on a gutter, a car, a pond or the path to the door, because the nuisance is usually about the landing place.

The same fall is trivial on a border and intolerable on a path, and separating the two keeps the discussion proportionate.

Consider what the tree currently screens, and check that from the window or seat where it matters before assuming its size could be reduced without consequence.

Screening is often only noticed once it has gone, and reversing that decision is not usually possible within a useful stretch of time.

Mark where surface roots run beneath lawn, paving, a shed base or a boundary wall, and raise them as a question rather than quietly working around them.

Roots under built elements are a matter for professionals on both sides of the question, and owners tend to notice them long before mentioning them.

What can be done where roots meet paving, drains or a wall is for a qualified arborist together with other qualified professionals to establish.

Note any tree standing close to a building, wall or drain run, and raise it with qualified professionals before either the tree or the building is altered.

Changes to a tree and changes to a building near it are connected in ways that are not obvious, and the sequence of decisions matters.

Anything involving a tree close to a building or drainage needs qualified professional advice specific to that site before decisions are made.

Write down what you would miss if the tree were not there, and say so at the visit, since options short of removal often exist and are seldom volunteered.

An arborist can only weigh what you value if it has been stated, and owners routinely under-report their attachment to a tree.

Decide before making contact whether you want an opinion on condition, an explanation of the options, or both, and say which when you get in touch.

The purpose of the visit changes who should attend and how long it takes, and stating it prevents a wasted appointment.

Ask what qualifications and experience the person attending holds for work of the kind being discussed, and write down the answer you are given.

This is a question you are entitled to ask plainly, and a written note of the reply is worth more than a recollection of reassurance.

Ask what insurance arrangements are in place for work of this kind, and keep the answer with your tree notes.

It is a straightforward question that professionals expect, and the answer belongs in your records rather than in memory.

Insurance and liability are matters for the professional and your own adviser to confirm; nothing here indicates what cover is adequate.

Ask whether you will receive written findings and options, and agree that anything proposed is set out in writing before it is arranged.

A written record is what allows a second view to be sought and what survives if the tree is looked at again later.

Consider in advance whether you would want a second qualified opinion if removal were proposed, and record that as a decision rather than making it under pressure.

Removal is the one option that cannot be revisited, so the decision about seeking another view is better made calmly beforehand.

Ask who would deal with the local authority if consent turned out to be needed, and record whether that responsibility sits with you or with the professional.

This is regularly assumed by both sides to be the other's job, and the gap only becomes visible once work is due to start.

Any requirement to obtain consent is established with the local authority, and the responsibility for doing so should be agreed in writing.

Walk the route a person and their equipment would take to reach each tree, and note gates, steps, narrow side passages and ground that turns soft in wet weather.

The route is often the deciding factor in how work is carried out, and an owner can describe it far more accurately than a map can.

List what sits beneath or beside the tree that would need shifting, including pots, furniture, a greenhouse, a washing line, a pond cover or a parked vehicle.

These are almost always the owner's responsibility, and discovering that on the day loses time everyone has already committed.

Note any cable, wire or service running over, under or beside the tree, and raise it before anyone is asked to work there.

Services near a tree change how work must be approached and who else has to be involved, so they cannot be left to be spotted on arrival.

Overhead lines and buried services must be established by qualified professionals with the relevant utility before any work is planned near them.

Ask what protection the lawn, paving and beds would need if machinery has to come in, and agree who makes good anything damaged.

Ground damage is common, foreseeable and simple to plan for, yet it is rarely mentioned until it has already happened.

Decide and record whether you want branch material, chippings or logs kept on the plot, and where exactly they would be put if you did.

Material kept on site takes up more room than owners expect, and nominating the spot in advance stops it landing on a lawn.

Ask whether access across a neighbour's ground would be needed, and raise that with them yourself well before anything is arranged.

A request made early is usually granted; the same request made on the morning of the work rarely goes as well.

Write down what the arborist said on the day in your own words, while it is fresh, and keep it with the sketch and the photographs.

Spoken advice tends to fade quickly and is easily reconstructed inaccurately, whereas a note made while it is fresh stays usable far longer.

Record any option you were offered and chose not to take, along with your reasoning, so the thinking is available when the tree is next looked at.

Without this, a later adviser sees only what was done and none of what was considered and rejected.

Ask when the tree should be looked at again and what would warrant getting in touch sooner, then put both into your notes rather than trusting memory.

Owners typically remember the advice and forget the trigger, which is the part that actually protects the tree and everything under it.

Agree who in the household watches for the changes you were asked to watch for, and where those observations get written down.

Monitoring that belongs to nobody in particular quietly stops, and the gap only shows when something has already changed.

Keep the tree records with your property paperwork so they pass to whoever looks after the garden next rather than being lost with a phone.

Tree histories outlast owners, and a record that survives a change of hands is worth considerably more than one that does not.

If the local authority attaches requirements to anything agreed, keep that correspondence with the tree records and work to what it says.

Requirements attached to a tree apply regardless of who carries out the work, so the paperwork has to stay with the tree, not the contractor.

Any conditions set by the local authority are for that authority to interpret, and questions about them belong with them rather than with an adviser.