Tree Surveys

Landscape designers and conservationists sometimes need a survey to show the basic detail of a site along with the position, species and size of trees and shrubs. However they are often tied to a tight budget which will not allow for a fully detailed topographic survey. A tree survey is ideal for this situation costing less but still including the relevant information to help design the perfect garden or perhaps to list trees in a preservation area.

The drawing is kept uncluttered by excluding public and private services. Levels are taken at longer horizontal intervals but the surveyor will always ensure that crucial topographic features such as banks, retaining walls and other changes of gradient are included. Contours are produced from a three dimensional digital ground model (DGM) which will be of great benefit to the landscape designer.

Our standard specification for tree surveys explains the level of detail to be included on a typical plan plotted at 1:500 scale. However in the example shown below it was necessary to increase the scale to 1:200 due to the large concentration of trees. In many cases it is not possible to include the associated data without considerable ‘overwriting’ making the text extremely hard to read. Usually the trees are numbered on the plan and the supporting information will be included on a tree schedule in the form of a separate spreadsheet. To make identification eave easier the trees can be ‘tagged’ in the field with numbers corresponding to the plan and schedule.