A fungus at the base, deadwood up top, a trunk leaning since the last storm. Maxime Caradec comes to look and gives you what is wrong with the tree, in writing and dated. Enough to decide, and enough to show a neighbour or an insurer.
Climbing arborist
French national specialist certificate in tree pruning and care, 2014
4.9/5 from 38 Google reviews, as of 15 October 2026
As of 15 October 2026
Quote after a site visit
South Finistère
Local service
French national specialist certificate in tree pruning and care, passed by Maxime Caradec in 2014
Keeping the tree is a possible conclusion
Travel to come and look is always included
Reduction pruning, cabling, or felling if nothing else works
Is not always a dangerous tree
Professional services tailored to your needs
From the base to the crown, looking for whatever weakens the tree.
Wood-decay fungi such as bracket fungus or honey fungus, pests, diseases.
Whether the tree is holding, and for how long.
After a storm, to know what has to come down straight away.
Photos, observations and recommendations, dated.
What to keep an eye on, and when to come back.
Arb'Ouest provides a written, dated assessment: photos, observations, recommended work. A falling tree engages its owner's liability, and this document proves that the owner acted with due diligence, as explained in the guide to fallen trees and insurance (in French).
Not necessarily. Cabling or sanitary pruning often avoid felling, and that is the first option examined. Topping, on the other hand, is never recommended.
When a tree falls on a roof or a car, the insurer does not ask what state it was in: that shows in the debris. The insurer asks what the owner could have known beforehand.
A dated document answers that question. On a given day, a professional looked at the tree, noted what he saw and wrote down what he recommended. Without that document, the owner has nothing to put forward.
At the base. A fungus on the root collar, bracket fungus or honey fungus, digests the wood from the inside. Soil lifted on one side, roots torn out: a tree that has leaned for thirty years is rarely a worry; a tree that started leaning this winter is.
On the trunk. A vertical crack, bark coming away in plates, a cavity, weeping. The same crack does not weigh the same under a heavy limb as it does a metre above the ground.
In the crown. Forks opening up, deadwood high up: no photo taken from the garden shows it. When the decision depends on what is up there, Maxime Caradec climbs up before deciding.
“It is dangerous”, “it has to come down”: that is often how the request arrives. Sometimes the assessment confirms it. Often, too, it shows that cabling a fork that is spreading, or sanitary pruning to remove the deadwood, is enough to bring the risk down.
Cutting the top off, on the other hand, solves nothing: the tree grows back as poorly attached shoots, taller and more brittle ten years later. The danger is postponed, not removed.
French national specialist certificate in tree pruning and care, passed by Maxime Caradec in 2014
Keeping the tree is a possible conclusion
Travel to come and look is always included
Reduction pruning, cabling, or felling if nothing else works
Is not always a dangerous tree
Compare freely
No surprises
Handled 7 days a week
The garden is left clean
Everything you need to know before contacting us
The assessment is a paid service, separate from the quote for the work. Its price is given when the appointment is made: a twenty-metre cedar and a garden apple tree do not take the same time.
After a storm, when a fungus grows at the base, when branches die at the top, or when the tree leans more than before. A large tree above a house or a path should be checked without waiting for a sign.
It depends on what it has. A fungus at the base is not a death sentence: everything depends on the species involved and how much of the wood is already decayed.
Often, yes. A tree judged dangerous at a glance is regularly kept with reduction pruning, cabling and monitoring. The assessment lets you decide on facts rather than on an impression.
Storm cover generally applies above a wind-speed threshold recorded by Météo-France. It can be disputed for lack of upkeep if the tree was visibly declining. A dated report, with photos, shows its real condition before the fall.
Verified reviews from our Google Business listing
No review is copied onto this site. They can all be read at their source, on the Google profile of Arb'Ouest. The reviews themselves are written in French.
Describe the tree in two lines. The quote is sent within 72 hours of the visit. Allow a week from December to February.
After a site visit. Maxime replies in writing, by WhatsApp or email.
What makes the price? What sets the price of tree pruning
Tree care in 15 towns of South Finistère · town pages in French
Send a photo of the tree on WhatsApp. The quote follows a site visit, with no obligation.
