Last Updated on September 8, 2026
Finding
A tree surgeon’s day rate runs £150 to £400 across the three biggest published UK guides, a spread that mostly comes down to team size and access, in rates Whito read on 4 September 2026.
Source: Whito, whito.co.uk/for/tree-surgeons/tree-surgeon-cost-uk, September 2026. Free to quote with a link to this page.
Tree surgery pricing confuses customers because a day of it is not one person: it is often a climber, a groundworker, a chipper and a truck. The published guides quote different slices of that reality, which is where the spread comes from.
Published rates, 2026
| Item | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate | £30 to £50 (Checkatrade), £25 to £45 (MyJobQuote) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Day rate, single surgeon | £240 to £400 (Checkatrade), £200 to £350 (MyJobQuote), £150 to £200 per person (PriceYourJob) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Team day rate | £400 to £700 (MyJobQuote), about £350 for a three person team (PriceYourJob) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Crown reduction | £200 to £800 per tree, average £500 (Checkatrade), £400 to £900 (MyJobQuote) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Stump grinding | £160 to £710 by size (Checkatrade), UK average £225 (MyJobQuote) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Hedge trimming | £60 to £120 an hour (Checkatrade) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| Tree survey | £200 to £300 (Checkatrade) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
| London premium | an extra £50 to £100 a day (MyJobQuote) | read 4 Sep 2026 |
MyJobQuote also publishes a rule of thumb for stumps: £3 to £5 per inch of diameter. The guides broadly agree at the job level and diverge at the day-rate level, because a day means different crews to different guides.
What moves a quote
Access first: a tree over a conservatory needs rigging and doubles the labour. Waste second: chipping and removal is real cost, and a customer keeping the logs and chip should see it in the price. Protection status third: a TPO or conservation area adds paperwork and weeks as well as money. A good quote names all three. If you are the surgeon, publishing that explanation next to your price bands converts the customers a bare number scares off.
For the surgeon: publish bands, win the comparison
Your customer has read at least one of the guides above before ringing. Fewer than half of business sites publish any price, per Whito’s price transparency study, so a dated band per job type, with the access and waste caveats stated, puts you in the frame the guides created and marks you as the straight talker in it.
Common questions
How much does a tree surgeon cost per day in the UK?
Published 2026 guides put a single surgeon at £150 to £400 a day depending on the guide, and a full team at £350 to £700. The spread reflects crew size and access assumptions, so compare like for like. Read 4 September 2026.
How much does crown reduction cost?
Published 2026 rates run £200 to £900 per tree, with Checkatrade’s average at £500. Tree size, access and protection status move the figure most.
How much does stump grinding cost?
Checkatrade publishes £160 to £710 by stump size and MyJobQuote a £225 UK average with a £3 to £5 per inch of diameter rule of thumb, read 4 September 2026.
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