Tree removal
Whole-tree felling where there is room to drop it, sectional dismantling where there is not. Most Perth removals are the second kind, because the tree is beside a house, over a pool or inside a boundary with a limestone wall on it. Sections are lowered on ropes rather than dropped.
Full detail, including what happens to the root plate, is on the tree removal service page, with the Perth-specific version — council rules, species, access constraints — on the tree removal Perth page.
Tree lopping
Reducing the height or spread of a tree that has outgrown its position. It is the term everyone searches for, and it covers a wide range of work quality. A reduction cut back to a suitable lateral keeps the tree structurally sound. A cut that leaves a bare stub does not.
The tree lopping page sets out where a reduction is genuinely appropriate and where removal is the more honest answer, and the lopping in Perth page covers how it plays out on local species.
Tree pruning
Deadwooding, crown thinning, crown lifting, roof and gutter clearance, and formative pruning on younger trees. This is the majority of the work on established gardens south of the river, and it is what most people actually need when they ring about a tree that has "got too big".
See the tree pruning service page and the pruning in Perth page for timing — late winter into early spring is the general rule here, with exceptions for hazard work, which happens whenever it needs to.
Stump grinding
Grinding the stump and major surface roots below grade so the ground can be turfed, paved or replanted. Fast work in Swan Coastal Plain sand, which is why it costs less in Perth than in clay-soil cities. Depth matters and should be specified: turf needs less than a garden bed, and a garden bed needs less than a footing.
Details on the stump grinding page, and the local version on stump grinding Perth.
Stump removal
Complete extraction of the stump and root plate rather than grinding it in place. Worth doing where a slab, pool shell, footing or retaining wall is going in, or where you want the ground genuinely clear rather than full of decomposing chip. Sandy soil makes this far more achievable here than most of the country.
See the stump removal page and stump removal Perth.
The rest of it
- Emergency and storm work — limbs down after a front, split unions, trunks across driveways. Same-day where it is safe to work.
- Palm tidying and removal — Cocos and Canary Island date palms, seed head and frond removal, full removals.
- Crown lifting — raising the canopy for vehicle, pedestrian or mower clearance.
- Crown thinning — reducing wind sail in the canopy without changing the tree's outline.
- Powerline and roof clearance — see the note above about who may work near live conductors.
- Seed and fruit removal — marri gumnuts, olives, figs and Cape lilac berries before they hit the paving.
- Cabling and bracing — supporting a co-dominant union on a tree worth keeping.
- Animal and bird retrieval — cats and possums out of canopies, occasionally.
- Wood chip supply — bulk chip from the chipper, aged or fresh.
Before you book
Two things are worth sorting first. Which council the property sits in, because Western Australia has no statewide tree preservation order and the rules are local — the service areas page lists them suburb by suburb. And what the quote actually includes, which the cost guide breaks down line by line.
Then call (08) 9516 2804 or send the job details through.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between lopping and pruning?
Pruning is selective removal of specific branches for a reason — deadwood, clearance, a defect, crown thinning. Lopping generally means reducing the overall size of a tree. Done properly, a reduction still cuts back to a suitable lateral branch. Done badly it leaves stubs, and stubs are what produce weak regrowth and rot pockets.
Do you work near powerlines?
Clearance pruning around service lines is routine work, but there are limits on who may approach live conductors and how close. Western Power runs its own clearance program on the network side, and for anything close to live wires the safe answer is an accredited crew or an arranged isolation. A homeowner on a ladder with a pole saw is not the answer.
Can you do just one branch?
Yes, and small jobs are common — a limb over a carport, a branch fouling gutters, clearance for a new patio. Expect a minimum charge, because the setup and the travel cost the same whether the job takes twenty minutes or four hours.
Do you supply mulch?
Chip from the job can be left on site if you want it, and bulk wood chip can usually be dropped separately. Fresh eucalypt chip should be aged before it goes on garden beds. Straight off the chipper it is hot, nitrogen-hungry and best used on paths or stockpiled for a few months.