Tree Pruning Ferntree Gully

Pruning is where most amateur tree work comes unstuck. A bad cut, a lion-tailed canopy, a headed-back leader, a flush cut against the bark collar, sits there for years before the failure shows up, and by then the tree is dead at the top or shedding limbs at random. Every cut we make around Ferntree Gully is planned around the branch collar, the target wood, and how the species responds, with the aim of leaving the tree stronger than we found it.

Different jobs want different cuts. A young tree on a new build needs formative shaping, taking out crossing leaders and twin stems early while the wounds are small. A mature foothill eucalypt over a driveway usually wants a crown lift, clearing the lowest few metres so cars and people get through without stripping the canopy. A hedge run along a sloped boundary wants a tidy reduction without cutting back into bare inner wood. We talk through which one fits before we start.

The one job we won't take on is topping, hacking the top of the canopy off flat to drop the height in a hurry. It looks like progress for half a year, then the tree throws a mess of weak, badly attached regrowth that snaps in the first decent wind, a real problem on a windy foothill block. A proper crown reduction, cutting back to a lateral big enough to take over as the leader, is the actual answer. Slower, more selective, and the tree keeps its shape and its strength.