On Sun, 2 Sep 2012 18:06:00 +0000, stvnshrmptn wrote:

We have three trees (conifers I think?) in our back garden, that I would
love to have taken down. As our garden is fairly small (5m x 12m), they
take up 3-4m at the rear of our garden which is a significant
percentage.

We are in London/Kent, and are going to get some quotes together. The
trunks are about 30-40 across, and the trees are 12-14m high.

Any info/opinions would be appreciated, especially on prices and
particular things we should ask or look out for.

A good feller can drop a tree just about any direction s/he wants, but
the feller will need room you don't have. Therefore, they'll probably have
to take them down in pieces, felling first the top, then the middle, and
finally the bottom sections. That makes for a more expensive and complex
process.

Here in the US, the usual thing might be to chip the branches and smaller
diameter wood and cut up the rest for firewood. It's expensive to take the
chippings to a landfill, so there's another cost -- though you can save the
chippings for mulch or pathways, or perhaps you've got neighbors who'd like
some also. That will leave you with stumps, which can be ground down or left
for feeder bases, or something to grow climbing roses or wisteria on.

How can they bring equipment in to your garden? The easier it is, generally,
the cheaper the job pricing.