Empty corner of a garden with wood chip and sawdust between two green close-board fences — Cleared corner of wood chip and sawdust where the tree stood, edged with timber.

Tall evergreen tree growing in the corner of a garden fence with a chainsaw at its base — The evergreen tree standing in the fenced corner before it was cut down.

This job took place in a Kidderminster back garden, where a tall evergreen had grown up in the corner between two close-board fences. The photos show it before work and then the same corner afterwards: bare, level ground edged with timber, with only sawdust and wood chip left behind where the tree stood.

Taking a tree down in a tight corner

A tree in a corner leaves little room to swing a stem down in one go, so work like this is normally done in sections. Branches come off first, then the trunk is cut down from the top in manageable pieces and lowered, so nothing lands on the fences or in neighbouring gardens. Once the tree is down, the timber can be logged or taken away, and the stump dealt with, either left low or ground out.

Before and after

The first photo shows the finished corner: a square of wood chip within a timber edge, with sawdust on the grass and a green shrub still growing beside it. The second photo, taken earlier, shows the tree standing close to the fence with a chainsaw on the ground at its base. If you have a tree in a similar spot, ask the council whether it is protected before booking, and think about what you would like there afterwards.