The fear with pruning is simple: you want the tree tidied, and you get it butchered instead. Someone tops it, leaves it looking like a coat rack, and within a year it’s throwing out weak, messy regrowth that’s more of a hazard than what you started with. Pruning done right is the opposite. Cut in the right places, to the right standard, a tree seals its wounds, keeps its natural shape, and actually gets healthier. That standard is AS4373, and it’s what we cut to, every time, on every tree.
AS4373 sets out where and how to cut so a tree recovers instead of decaying from the wound. Cut in the wrong place and you leave a stub that never seals, letting rot into the trunk. Cut too much and you stress the tree into a flush of weak, storm-prone regrowth. Cut to the standard and the tree heals cleanly and holds its shape for years. It’s the whole difference between a pruned tree and a damaged one, and it’s why it’s worth using a qualified arborist rather than whoever’s cheapest with a chainsaw.
The size of the tree, how much work it needs, how easy it is to get into and move around in, whether there are structures or powerlines underneath that mean roping each cut down rather than dropping it, and how much material comes out. A light tidy on a small tree is quick. A big gum needing deadwooding and a crown reduction over a house is a bigger job. We assess it and give you one fixed price in writing.
We come out, look at the tree, and tell you honestly what it needs, which might be less than you thought. You get a fixed written price on the spot, cleanup included. Once it’s booked we confirm the day before and let you know the morning of. On the day, the cuts are made at the right points to AS4373, it’s all chipped and cleared as we go, and the site’s left clean.
We won’t hide behind ‘every job’s different,’ so here’s what moves the number: the size of the tree, how much work it needs, how easy it is to get into and move around in, whether there are structures or powerlines underneath that mean roping each cut down rather than dropping it, and how much material comes out at the end. A light tidy on a small tree is quick; a big gum needing deadwooding and a crown reduction over a house is a bigger job. We assess it and give you one fixed price in writing.
Pruning is selective, done to a standard, and keeps the tree healthy. Lopping done badly means topping a tree to stubs, which causes weak regrowth and decay. We do proper reductions either way.
For most trees, outside the peak growth and flowering periods, but it varies by species and by why you’re pruning. We’ll tell you if it’s better to wait rather than just take the job.
Light pruning is often fine. Bigger works and protected trees can need approval, and we check the mapping at the quote.
Not when it’s done to AS4373. Proper pruning improves a tree’s health and structure. It’s bad, over-heavy cutting that damages trees.
