Pruning with a reason for every cut

Pruned, not topped

Topping a tree is still the most common thing done to trees in this country and it is close to the worst. You cut the leader off, the tree panics and throws out a mass of weakly attached regrowth, and in three years you have a taller, denser, more dangerous tree than the one you started with. Then you pay to do it again.

We prune to Australian Standard AS 4373, Pruning of Amenity Trees. Cuts go in the right place, at the right size, at the right time of year, and only where there is a reason for them. The tree seals the wound and moves on.

Pruning we do

• Crown thinning: selective removal to let wind through instead of catching it like a sail
• Crown lifting: raising the lower canopy for clearance over driveways, paths and yards
• Crown reduction: bringing a crown back to correct reduction points, never by topping
• Deadwooding: taking out dead and hanging limbs before they come down on their own
• Clearance pruning: off roofs, gutters, solar, fences and boundaries
• Formative pruning: building good structure into young trees early
• Storm preparation: reducing wind load and removing failure points before the season

Cyclone season pruning

The single best time to prune in Townsville is before the wet, not during it. A crown that has been thinned properly lets wind pass through. A crown that has been topped or left dense catches it, and the tree either sheds limbs or comes over at the roots.

Book it early. Everyone rings at once the week a system shows up on the radar, and by then the useful window has closed.

What good pruning looks like afterwards

Honestly, it should look like almost nothing happened. If a tree looks butchered, that is not a style choice, that is damage. You should notice better light, better clearance and a crown that moves in the wind instead of fighting it.