Tree surgery · Frome & the West Country
Young enough to climb it.
Trained by someone old enough to know better.
RJS Tree Care is Reuben Shirley, a second-generation tree surgeon based in Frome: six years on the saw, backed by his father's forty-five. Send a photo of your tree and get a written estimate the same day, with a firm price agreed on site before any work starts.
★ 5.0 on Google (9 reviews) · Fully insured · Written estimates, price agreed before we start · Storm damage answered 7 days
The story
Two generations up the same trees
Topping out, Frome
Most people pick up a chainsaw for the first time on a training course. Reuben grew up with the sound of one.
His father has worked the trees of Somerset and Wiltshire for forty-five years: the big estate oaks, the roadside limes, the storm-split willows nobody else would touch. Reuben started alongside him as a boy, was climbing at fourteen, and has now spent six years on the tools in his own right. What he learned wasn't just how to cut. It was how to read a tree: where the weight sits, which limb moves first, when a lean is honest and when it's lying to you.
Today the business is Reuben's own. His father still works with him, forty-five years of judgement on the other end of the rope. Between them: fifty-one years of knowledge, one straightforward promise. A written estimate before we start, a price agreed face to face, a tidy garden when we leave, and a photo of the finished crown sent to your phone.
"Every tree we take on gets two opinions before anyone leaves the ground: mine, and forty-five years of my dad's."Reuben Shirley
Services
From a single limb to the whole tree
Every job, big or small, gets a written estimate, insurance documents up front, and a properly tidy finish. Wood stacked or removed, exactly as agreed.
Tree felling & dismantling
Straight fells where there's room; careful section-by-section dismantles over houses, greenhouses and cables where there isn't.
Crown reduction & pruning
Reshaping and thinning that keeps the tree healthy and natural-looking, not the flat-top butchery that ruins them.
Hedges & ongoing maintenance
Hedge cutting, formative pruning and the regular visits that stop small jobs becoming big ones.
Stump grinding
Stumps ground out below ground level so you can lawn, plant or build over them. Ask us to include it when we estimate your felling job.
Storm & emergency work
Wind-split limbs, blocked drives and trees on buildings, answered seven days a week and prioritised by risk.
TPO & conservation paperwork
Tree in a conservation area or under a preservation order? We handle the council application for you, start to finish.
What customers say
Nine reviews. Five stars. Every one.
"I employed Reuben and his team to fell a large tree for me in Frome. This was done quickly and efficiently. They were very polite and friendly and I would be more than happy to recommend RJS to others."
"We hired Reuben to fell 2 trees in our front garden. He was very polite and friendly, even took time out of his day to speak to our 14 year old about his hobbies. He was very professional and quick when it came to the cutting. He was tidy…"
"Fantastic experience with Reuben and his colleagues during the 2 visits RSJ have made to us. RSJ reduced a very large Sycamore and then reduced our mixed hedge and large Beech trees. Reuben is a pleasure to have looking after your trees and…"
Quoted word for word from our Google listing, where reviews shown with … continue in full. Read all 9 reviews on Google → · Worked with us? Leave a review →
The boring bits that matter
Paperwork most cowboys can't produce
Anyone can buy a chainsaw. These are the things that separate a professional outfit from a bloke with a ladder, sorted before we ever leave the ground.
Fully insured
Public liability cover in place. Certificate provided with every estimate, before any work begins.
Trained & certificated
Chainsaw, climbing and aerial-rescue work carried out to NPTC / City & Guilds standards.
Kit inspected & maintained
Climbing and rigging equipment checked and maintained to keep every job safe.
Where we work
Based in Frome, working the West Country
Home turf is Frome, Shepton Mallet and the villages around them, but the truck ranges across Somerset, Wiltshire and into Bath and Bristol. If you're within a couple of hours, send the photos and ask.
- Frome (home)
- Shepton Mallet
- Bath
- Wells
- Warminster
- Bruton
- Trowbridge
- Westbury
- Radstock
- Midsomer Norton
- Glastonbury
- Mells & the villages
- Bristol
- Salisbury
Recent work
Up the tree and on the ground
A few jobs from around Frome and Somerset. Every one finished tidy, with the wood left exactly as agreed.
Get an estimate
An estimate today, not a visit next week
No waiting in for someone to come round and suck their teeth. Most estimates start with three photos from your phone.
Send photos on WhatsApp
The whole tree, the base, and what's around it: shed, fence, greenhouse, road. Add your postcode and anything you're worried about.
A written estimate the same day
A written estimate back within hours, setting out what we'd do and what happens to the wood. Photos only tell us so much, so it stays an estimate at this stage. Insurance documents attached.
The price agreed on site
We look at the tree properly before starting: access, what it's growing over, how the weight sits. Then we agree a firm price face to face. If it differs from the estimate we tell you why, and nothing goes ahead until you're happy.
The job, then the proof
We arrive when we said. When we're done: sawdust blown down, wood stacked or gone as agreed, gate shut, and a photo of the finished job sent to your phone.
Fastest way to an estimate: snap the tree and send it.