Tree pruning done properly

I won't, and here's why. Topping is hack work. You cut the main leader off, you're left with ugly stubs that rot, and the regrowth comes back weak and dangerous. In two years you've got a bigger problem than you started with. I'm not putting my name on bad work.

What I'll do instead is a proper canopy reduction that keeps the tree healthy and gets you the size and shape you're after. Most people are glad once they understand the difference.

Yes. We prune to AS 4373, the Australian Standard for pruning amenity trees. That covers how much you can safely take, where the cuts go, and protecting the tree's structure. It matters for the tree's health and it matters if the tree is protected and council is involved.

In practice the standard is what stops a prune turning into damage. Cuts go at the branch collar so the tree can seal them properly, rather than leaving stubs that rot back into the trunk. There's a limit to how much live canopy comes off in one go, which is why a heavy reduction is sometimes staged across two seasons instead of done in a single visit.

It also gives you something to point at. Where a tree is protected under Tweed Shire or City of Gold Coast rules, work done to AS 4373 is the language council expects to see. Pruning outside the standard is where people get themselves into trouble.

Often, yes. Selective canopy thinning, crown lifting and reduction can open up a view or get light back into the yard without butchering the tree. We'll tell you what's possible while keeping the tree healthy, and flag anything that needs council sign-off first.

All of it is done to Australian Standard AS 4373, which governs how much can come off and where the cuts go. The practical limit is that you can't take too much live canopy in one go without stressing the tree, so a big view job is sometimes staged across two seasons rather than done in a single hit.

What we won't do is top it. Topping gives you a quick result and then a mess of weak, fast regrowth that's more dangerous than what you started with — and it's the fastest way to kill a tree you actually wanted to keep. If a view can't be had safely, we'll say so rather than take your money.

It's smart. Cyclone season runs November to April up here. Deadwooding and a sensible canopy reduction before then takes the load off weak limbs so they're less likely to come down on the house when it blows. We saw plenty during Cyclone Alfred that a pre-season prune would have prevented.

What we're looking for is the stuff that fails first: dead limbs still hanging in the canopy, branches with tight V-shaped forks, heavy end-weight out over a roof or a fence line, and anything already cracked or lifting at the base. Taking that out early is far cheaper than an emergency call-out at the other end.

Book it before the season rather than during it. Once a warning is issued everyone rings at once, and the crews still available at that point are generally the ones you don't want up your tree.

Yes. We cover the Tweed Coast, Byron Shire and southern Gold Coast: Tweed Heads, Kingscliff, Cabarita, Pottsville, Bilambil Heights and Byron Shire, and across the border to Coolangatta, Tugun, Currumbin, Palm Beach and Burleigh Heads. See all the areas we serve, or call us to check your suburb.