Tree-mendous maintenance programme

We’ve just launched our latest tree maintenance policy.

We know that trees are important to residents, so we take care of them to ensure everyone can continue to enjoy their benefits across the borough.

The 28,000 council-owned trees in Camden help give a sense of place, and can have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. Trees also provide many environmental benefits, including improving air quality, and offering a habitat to wildlife.

We carry out inspections and maintenance with help from our tree database, primarily in two and three-year cycles, to ensure public safety and a healthy tree stock. This includes trees in the street, parks and open spaces, school sites, housing estate communal areas and tenants’ individual gardens.

What does our tree programme look like?

Our pollarding (pruning) programme runs from September to March. Due to the large number of trees we maintain, we are unable to account for early or late seasonal changes in leaf-fall, but trees normally recover from pollarding by mid-summer. We’ve recently increased our pollarding programme during winter to decrease the risk of tree-related subsidence. By taking a proactive approach to prevent damage to adjacent buildings, both residents and the Council can avoid the costly consequences of subsidence.

We have to remove trees that are dying, diseased or pose a safety risk. However, we plant at least 400 trees every year to replace and, where possible, increase our stock, and we seek external funding to be able to plant even more. We can’t always replace a tree in the same location because of underground utilities and obstructions, but will always try to replant nearby. We also aim to increase diversity in species and age across our stock, so that we provide the best possible habitat for wildlife. 

Find out more

View our updated tree maintenance policy and find out more about trees in Camden at camden.gov.uk/trees