Pruning & crown work
Pruning done to the standard, not to the stub
All our pruning is to AS 4373. That rules out topping and lopping, which are the two things most often sold as “tidying it up”.
Four kinds of pruning
Crown thinning
Selective removal of interior branches to let light and wind through without changing the tree’s shape or size. The right fix for a dark backyard or a tree that catches too much wind.
Crown lifting
Removing the lowest limbs to clear a roof, a driveway, a footpath or a fence line. The least stressful pruning for the tree and usually the cheapest.
Deadwooding
Taking out dead and hanging limbs. The single highest-value safety job on a mature tree, and the one we’d do first on any gum over a house or a play area.
Crown reduction
Genuinely reducing the height and spread by cutting back to suitable growth points. Done properly it’s slow, skilled work — and it’s the legitimate alternative to removal.
Common questions
Why we won't top a tree
Topping means cutting the canopy off at an arbitrary height, leaving stubs. The tree responds with a mass of weakly attached regrowth that’s more likely to fail in a storm than the original limbs were, and the open wounds invite decay. It looks tidy for a season and creates a hazard for a decade. Any operator who offers it is telling you something about their training.
When to prune in Brisbane
Late winter to early spring — roughly August to September — is ideal for most species here. The tree responds vigorously through the growing season, and you get the storm-risk work done before the season starts. Deadwooding and genuine hazard work we’ll do any time of year. Waiting for the “right season” to remove a hanging limb isn’t arboriculture, it’s procrastination.