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Tree Surgeons – Tips, Training & Updates

Information and Updates

Welcome to the Great Oaks blog – your go-to space for practical advice, training insights, and updates from across the arboriculture and tree services industry. Whether you’re looking to become a qualified chainsaw operator, stay up to date with safety best practices, or learn more about stump grinding, hedge trimming, site clearance or vegetation management, you’ll find clear, helpful content right here.

We combine expert knowledge from our Preston-based training academy and on-site tree surgery teams across Lancashire to bring you articles that are relevant, honest and designed to support both professionals and newcomers in the field.

Blogs

Japanese knotweed with dark green shield-shaped leaves on red zigzag stems and upright cream flower tassels, with the Great Oaks caption bar.
How to identify Japanese knotweed: what it looks like in spring, summer, autumn and winter
Orange hydraulic log splitter standing in front of a large pile of cut logs on a misty yard, with the Great Oaks caption bar.
Which wood is best for firewood? Ash, birch, sycamore, beech and the ones to avoid
Great Oaks planned grounds maintenance: a large open area of amenity grass freshly mown in stripes
When to start cutting grass in the UK, and when to stop for the winter
The trunk and heavy mossy limbs of a mature oak in winter, bare branches against a pale sky and a reservoir behind, with the Great Oaks caption bar.
Are bats protected in the UK? What it means before any tree work
A tarmac path with a timber rail beside a dark stream, ivy covering the far bank beneath bare trees, with the Great Oaks caption bar.
Does ivy kill trees? When to leave it, when to cut it and how to get rid of it
Pedestrian mower on a tarmac towpath and an operative in orange high visibility kit, helmet, mesh visor and ear defenders strimming a freshly cut canal bank beside the water, a lock behind, with the Great Oaks caption bar.
What is HAVS? Hand-arm vibration syndrome for chainsaw, hedge trimmer and mower users