Gold Coast and the Tweed
Tree lopping on the Gold Coast
When a tree has outgrown the block and a lot has to come off, how much and where it is cut decides whether you are doing this again in two years.
Tree lopping
What people mean when they ask for a lop
Almost always one of three things: it is too big, it is too close, or it is going to come through the roof in the next blow. Each of them points at a different job.
It is too big for the block
Height and spread reduced across the whole crown rather than the tree cut off at a line. A flat cut across the top forces a thicket of weak shoots from the wound, and in this climate they are back at the same height inside a few summers.
It is too close to the house
The limbs over the roof, the gutters and the driveway come off and the rest is left alone. Often a smaller job than the one being asked for, and it is quoted as what it is.
It has to be safe before the wet
Weight out of the top and the ends of the long limbs, which is what fails in a squall. Done before the season rather than after something has already come down.
Compared: removal, lopping or pruning, stump grinding or stump removal, council tree rules compared
How it works
Four steps, and the permit comes before the price
Nothing happens without a written quote you have agreed to.
- 1
Call or send the form
Include the suburb, your details and what needs to be done.
- 2
A contractor comes to see it
On site, not off a photo, because access and what sits underneath change the job.
- 3
The permit position is checked
Against the city's vegetation mapping and the koala controls, before a price is given.
- 4
Quoted in writing
The quote sets out the scope, the timber, the stump and the date. Then a date is booked.
Lopping questions
How much can come off, and what it costs the tree
How much can be taken off in one go?
Less than most people expect, if the tree is meant to survive it. A contractor who has seen it will say what can come off now and what should wait, and will say so before the quote rather than after.
Would it be cheaper to take the whole tree out?
Sometimes it is, and it gets said. A tree that needs a heavy reduction every two years costs more over ten than taking it down once, and that comparison belongs in the conversation before anybody climbs it.
Are tree loppers and tree surgeons the same thing?
They are two names people use for overlapping work, and the word on the van settles nothing. What settles it is what is proposed for the tree and whether it is written down before anybody starts.
Does lopping need council approval?
It can. The city's rules cover damaging a protected tree, not only removing one, so cutting into one can need an application. There is more on the tree removal permits page.
