Tree Removal
Full removals of dead, storm-damaged or badly placed trees, including tight residential blocks.
Learn more →Pruning is the cheap part of tree ownership
Most expensive tree work starts as cheap tree work that did not happen. A limb that was over-extended five years ago and could have been reduced for a modest price becomes a torn union after one summer storm, and then it is a removal. Regular, light pruning on a mature tree is the least dramatic and best value thing you can do for it.
The four jobs that make up most pruning
Crown lifting. Removing the lowest branches to get clearance over a driveway, a path, a fence line or the roof of a shed. Standard on peppermints and paperbarks along the coast, where low sweeping limbs are part of the form and quickly become a nuisance.
Deadwooding. Taking out dead branches from an otherwise healthy canopy. After a dry South West summer the deadwood load in a mature marri can be significant, and it comes down in still weather as readily as in wind.
Clearance pruning. Getting the canopy off a structure — roof, gutter, solar array, aerial, meter box. This is the most requested job and the one most often done badly, because the temptation is to cut a flat face on the house side. Proper clearance work removes whole branches back to the trunk or a suitable lateral instead of shearing them.
Formative pruning. Shaping a young tree so it grows with one dominant leader and well-spaced scaffold branches. Five minutes of work on a three-year-old tree prevents the co-dominant stem that splits at twenty.
Where the cut goes
Every cut is made just outside the branch collar — the slight swelling where a branch meets the trunk. The collar contains the tissue that seals the wound. Cut inside it and you leave a wound the tree cannot close; leave a long stub and it dies back and lets decay in. This is the entire difference between pruning and hacking, and it is why the same-sized cut can be routine on one tree and fatal on another.
Marri in particular punishes bad cuts. It bleeds heavily from large wounds and is slow to compartmentalise, so large-diameter cuts on mature marri are avoided where a smaller reduction achieves the same clearance.
Timing in the South West
Late winter to early spring suits most local eucalypts — the tree is about to put on growth and can respond. Avoid heavy work in high summer on anything already drought-stressed. Fruit trees follow their own calendar. Storm-related work happens when it happens; see emergency storm work.
If the tree needs more than pruning — real weight reduction across the canopy — that is lopping. If it needs fuel-load and limb work ahead of summer, see firebreaks and hazard reduction.
Ring (08) 9785 0207, or read the cost guide first if you are comparing quotes. We cover the whole South West.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Lopping
Weight reduction and selective branch removal on overgrown marri, gum and peppermint.
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 →Firebreaks & Hazard Reduction
Firebreaks, fuel-load reduction and overhanging limb work to meet your shire's annual notice.
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
What is deadwooding and does my tree need it?
Deadwooding is removing dead branches from a live canopy. Marri and jarrah both shed deadwood readily after a dry summer, and a dead limb three storeys up over a driveway is a genuine hazard. If you can see grey, bare branches through the canopy, it is worth doing — it is quick, low risk to the tree and it reduces what can fall.
Can pruning fix a tree that leans?
It can reduce the load that makes a lean worse, but it will not straighten a tree. A lean that has been there for years with an undisturbed root plate is usually stable. A new lean, cracked soil on the uphill side or a lifted plate after heavy winter rain is a different matter and needs assessing straight away, not pruning.
How much can be taken off in one go?
As a working rule, no more than about a quarter of a mature tree's live canopy in a single season, and less on a stressed or drought-affected tree. Taking too much at once forces stress regrowth and can expose bark that has never seen full sun. Staging the work over two visits is often the better answer.
Do you prune fruit trees and ornamentals?
Yes. Orchard and ornamental pruning around Donnybrook, Capel and the Margaret River hinterland is regular work — apples, pears, olives, citrus and ornamental exotics. It is a different job from eucalypt work and is usually timed to the species, so mention what you have when you call.
Free, no-obligation