Planning tree work around the seasons and the weather

Plan the year backwards from the work: much pruning and felling suits the dormant months, spring and summer bring nesting birds and hedge work, and autumn and winter bring storms. So open quote visits well before each busy period, book the work days yourself once quotes are accepted, and keep spare days in every week for rain, wind and emergency call-outs. Clients book the visit online; you keep control of the work calendar.

Every tree species and every site is different, and your own training and local rules come first. Still, the calendar shapes a tree surgeon's year in recognisable ways.

Clients think about their trees when they see them: overhanging in summer, dropping leaves in autumn, bare and imposing in winter. If you wait until winter to do quote visits for winter work, you'll spend the best working weeks driving around measuring trees.

Instead, open more quote visit slots in late summer and autumn, and use them to fill the winter diary. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page; you open slots for each at the length it takes, one place per slot, and you can repeat slots each week on chosen weekdays until a date.

Durations and prices are examples. In the description of the quote visit, say which work you plan for which months, so clients know that a crown reduction booked in September may be done in December.

Work days depend on the weather, the crew and the equipment. Rather than opening them as public slots, agree the date with each client once the quote is accepted, and book it yourself from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional. Add the client's email if you want them to receive the confirmation.

A winter diary fills faster than it looks. Group accepted jobs by area, so the truck and chipper cover one part of your patch per day, and by kit: days that need the stump grinder or a hired platform together, days of climbing work together. Put small jobs, such as a single fruit tree or a hedge, next to a larger one in the same village. When you agree a date with a client, check the calendar for other jobs nearby first; it can be worth offering a date a week later if it saves an hour of driving.

Climbing in high winds or on soaked bark isn't worth the risk. Keep one day a week without booked work, or a lighter day, as a buffer. When the weather stops a job, contact the client, then reschedule the booking from your bookings list: you can move it to any slot with a free place, even one belonging to another service. Book doesn't email clients about changes, so confirm the new date yourself.

After a storm, calls come in about fallen or split trees. Book these directly: create a slot for the visit and book the client into it, so your calendar and bookings list stay complete.

With calendar sync (Google, iPhone, Mac), quote visits, work days and storm call-outs appear in one calendar, next to the weather forecast you check each morning. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.