Tree Removal
Full removals of dead, storm-damaged or badly placed trees, including tight residential blocks.
Learn more →Spring is when this gets decided
In the South West, bushfire preparation is the tree-work calendar. Shires publish their annual firebreak and fuel-hazard notice around September, compliance is generally required from the start of November, and every rural and semi-rural landholder in the region is working to the same deadline at the same time. Crews book out through October. If you ring in late November you are competing with everyone who did the same thing.
Book in late winter. That gets the breaks cut, the fuel reduced and the limb work over the house finished before the hot easterlies and the strong afternoon sea breezes start moving deadwood around.
What the notice usually requires
Read your own council's notice — the detail differs between the City of Bunbury and the shires of Capel, Busselton, Dardanup, Harvey and Augusta-Margaret River — but the shape is consistent:
- A trafficable mineral-earth break of a specified width inside the property boundary, kept clear of flammable material and with overhead clearance for an appliance.
- On smaller lots, fuel reduction across the whole block rather than a perimeter break.
- Clear, maintained access to the dwelling and to any water point a brigade would use.
- Removal of accumulated fine fuel — long grass, leaf litter, loose bark — within a defined distance of structures.
The part most people miss: ladder fuels
A firebreak stops a ground fire crossing a line. It does nothing about a fire climbing into the canopy. In marri, jarrah and peppermint country, the material between knee height and the lower canopy — shrubs, suckers, low branches, hanging bark — is what lets a grass fire become a crown fire, and a crown fire is what throws embers into your roof cavity.
The work that matters here is crown lifting the lower branches, removing dead limbs and hanging bark, taking the canopy off the roof line and gutters, and thinning the shrub layer within the asset protection zone. That is pruning and reduction work, not clearing, and it is far more effective per dollar than removing healthy trees.
Coastal and inland differ
On the Geographe coast at Dunsborough, Vasse and Broadwater, the issue is dense peppermint thicket with a heavy litter layer, in sandy soil, with a reliable strong afternoon sea breeze to drive anything that starts. Fine-fuel management and canopy separation are the priorities.
Inland toward Capel, Donnybrook, Nannup and the Blackwood, the fuel is jarrah and marri forest with gravel soils, thicker understorey and steeper ground. Breaks are harder to place, access matters more, and the fuel load is heavier.
What we do and do not do
We cut and maintain breaks, reduce fuel loads, mulch the arisings, crown-lift and deadwood around structures, and take out dead or hazardous trees inside the protection zone. We do not sign off compliance on your behalf, and we cannot authorise clearing of protected native vegetation — see land clearing for how that works.
Get it booked early. Ring (08) 9785 0207 or send the block details. Costs are covered in the pricing guide; the FAQ has more on shire rules.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Lopping
Weight reduction and selective branch removal on overgrown marri, gum and peppermint.
Learn more →Tree Pruning
Crown lifting, deadwooding and clearance pruning done to keep the tree, not just cut it back.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Grinding the stump below ground level so you can turf, pave or plant over it.
Learn more →Stump Removal
Stump and root plate dug out entirely where footings, pipes or a new build need the ground clear.
Learn more →Land Clearing
Clearing house pads, paddock regrowth and overgrown lifestyle blocks, within the clearing rules.
Learn more →Emergency Storm Work
Fallen limbs, split trunks and trees on roofs after a South West front comes through.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
When does the firebreak notice apply in the South West?
Each local government issues its own notice, generally published in spring with compliance required from around the start of November through to autumn. Widths, lot-size thresholds and dates differ between the City of Bunbury and the shires of Capel, Busselton, Dardanup, Harvey and Augusta-Margaret River, so read the notice your own council sent rather than a neighbour's.
What does a compliant firebreak look like?
Typically a trafficable strip of mineral earth inside and along the boundary, cleared of all flammable material to a specified width, with vertical clearance above it so an appliance can drive it. Many notices also require fuel reduced across the whole lot on smaller blocks and clear access to water points. Your notice states the exact figures.
Can I get a variation if a firebreak is not practical?
Most South West councils allow an application for a variation where terrain, watercourses or retained vegetation make a standard break impossible, and will usually approve an alternative such as a wider fuel-reduced zone. Apply early and in writing. Simply not installing the break because it is difficult is how infringement notices happen.
Does clearing trees near the house make it safer?
Partly, and not in the way people expect. Most houses lost in bushfire are lost to ember attack rather than flame contact. Removing ladder fuels, cleaning gutters, cutting limbs back off the roof and reducing fine fuel within the asset protection zone does more than felling healthy trunks. A well-managed canopy can also slow wind-driven embers.
Free, no-obligation