Tree Removal
Full removals on tight coastal blocks, including dismantles by rope and crane-assisted lifts.
Learn more →When the weather does the pruning
Two systems account for most of the storm work here. A southerly buster arrives in summer with a sudden wind shift of 30 knots or more, hitting canopies from the opposite direction to the one they have grown to resist. And east coast lows bring days of saturating rain with sustained onshore wind, which is the combination that lifts whole root plates out of wet sand.
The Eastern Suburbs sits directly in the path of both. Exposed coastal trees at Bondi, Coogee and Maroubra tend to shed limbs; sheltered, over-dense garden trees at Double Bay, Paddington and Rose Bay tend to fail at the base once the soil goes soft.
What happens on a callout
The first job is making the site safe, not making it tidy. That usually means removing the hanging section, cutting the load off a roof or a fence, and clearing enough of the driveway to get a car out. Full clean-up, wood removal and stump grinding follow as a booked job in daylight.
Before anything is touched, photograph the damage from several angles if it is safe to do so. Insurers routinely ask for that and it is impossible to recreate afterwards.
Power lines are not our call
Anything touching or within reach of a conductor is Ausgrid's, not a tree crew's. Report it and stay well clear — wet foliage conducts, and a line that looks dead is not necessarily dead. We work around de-energised or cleared sites, and we do not cut branches out of live wires.
The work that prevents the callout
Most of what fails in a storm was visible beforehand: deadwood in the upper canopy, a co-dominant union with included bark, a heavy lateral extended out over a roof, a tree that was topped years ago and is now carrying a mass of weakly attached regrowth. Winter reduction and deadwooding is far cheaper than a night callout, and an arborist report on a tree you are worried about will tell you honestly whether it needs to come out.
Dangerous trees are also where council rules bend: where a tree presents an immediate risk, the councils accept that the work happens first and the paperwork follows. Our permit guide explains the difference between that and a tree you would simply prefer gone.
Call (02) 9538 7842 — 24 hours. For anything that is not urgent, the contact page and the cost guide are the better starting points.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Lopping & Pruning
Crown reduction, deadwooding and clearance pruning done to keep the tree alive and stable.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Stumps ground below ground level so you can turf, pave or replant over the top.
Learn more →Palm Tree Removal
Cocos, Bangalow and Canary Island date palms cleaned up, reduced or taken out section by section.
Learn more →Arborist Reports
AQF Level 5 reports for council applications, development consent and neighbour disputes.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an emergency?
A tree or limb that is already on a building, a car or a power line; a trunk that has split or a root plate that has lifted; a tree blocking the only vehicle access; or anything hanging in a canopy that could drop without warning. A tree that has simply shed small branches across a lawn can wait for a normal booking and will cost less.
Should I call you or the SES?
If the tree is on a house, threatening people, or involves a power line, call 000 or the SES on 132 500 first, and Ausgrid for anything touching wires. They make the scene safe. We handle the tree work itself once the site is safe, including the part insurers usually want documented before the full clean-up starts.
Does insurance cover storm tree damage?
It depends on the policy and on what the tree hit. Most home policies cover removing a fallen tree from an insured structure but not from an open yard, and many exclude a tree that failed because it was already dead or neglected. Photograph everything before it moves, and ask your insurer before authorising the full clean-up.
Can you make a tree safe now and finish it later?
That is the usual sequence. The overnight callout removes the immediate hazard — the limb over the bedroom, the hanger in the canopy, the section across the driveway. The remaining removal, grinding and clean-up is then quoted and booked normally, which also gives time to sort out any council consent the balance of the work needs.
Free, no-obligation