Pruning that respects the plant and the council

There’s a difference between trimming a hedge and pruning a plant properly. Most operators do the first; we try to do the second.

A hedge trim is shaping the green outer skin so the line is clean. A renewal prune on an older shrub is going deeper — cutting back to encourage new growth from the base, lifting the skirt where the lower branches have died off, removing crossing or rubbing branches that will end up tearing each other. The plant looks slightly more open right after a renewal prune; six weeks later, it’s lusher and better shaped than it would have been.

We work small-tree up to about 4 metres. Above that, you want an arborist with proper rigging, not a maintenance gardener on a step ladder. We’re happy to recommend; there are good ones in the region.

The Tweed Shire protected-tree rules matter. Several native species (different by zone) need council permission to prune above a certain limb size. We check before we start. If it’s protected and you want it worked on, you submit the application, council gives a yes or no, and we work to the approved scope. We don’t quietly cut into a protected tree because you asked us to; the fine lands on you, and the council doesn’t take “the tradie did it” as an excuse.

Cocos palms are their own category. Pruning a cocos palm is mostly pointless — they grow fronds, they shed fronds, the fronds end up in your gutters and on the lawn. If a cocos palm is a problem, the answer is usually removal, not pruning. We can quote, but anywhere it’s visible from public land or council reserve, we’ll check before we touch it.