Published · Updated · General guidance, not legal advice
Most garden trees in England can be pruned or felled by their owner without asking anyone. Three things change that, and it is worth checking before any work starts, because doing protected work without consent is a criminal offence.
Tree Preservation Orders
A council can protect a tree, a group of trees or a woodland with a Tree Preservation Order (TPO). If a tree has one, you need the council’s consent before you cut it down, top it, lop it or uproot it. Anyone can apply, though it is usually the owner or the tree surgeon on the owner’s behalf.
Consent often comes with conditions, such as how much can be taken off. Dead trees and urgent work to remove an immediate danger have their own rules, which still mean telling the council in writing.
Conservation areas
Trees in a conservation area are protected even without an order. Before most work you must give the council six weeks’ written notice, called a section 211 notice. Small trees are exempt: the usual threshold is a trunk 75mm across, measured 1.5 metres above the ground.
The six weeks give the council time to decide whether the tree deserves its own order. If they don’t respond, the work can go ahead once the notice period is over.
Planning conditions
A newer house or extension may come with planning conditions that protect particular trees. They are listed in the planning decision for the property, which your council keeps.
What happens if work goes ahead anyway
Cutting down or seriously damaging a protected tree without consent can lead to prosecution and a large fine, and the owner may be told to plant a replacement. That applies to the person who ordered the work as well as the person who did it.
What about felling licences?
In England, felling licences from the Forestry Commission are for larger amounts of timber, such as woodland. Trees in private gardens don’t need one.
Based on GOV.UK guidance on tree preservation orders and trees in conservation areas in England, read on 4 November 2026. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, and your council has the final word on any protected tree.