Tree pruning in Brisbane: what's local
Wide crowns over small roofs
Poincianas, jacarandas, figs and mangoes are the spreading trees Brisbane's local law singles out once their trunks get big: 80 cm for poincianas, jacarandas and mangoes and 100 cm for figs, in the 2013 consolidation. Their long horizontal limbs over gutters and roofs are the ones to look at before summer.
Pruning has a legal meaning here
Brisbane's local law defines pruning as maintenance or remedial pruning to AS 4373-2007, the national standard. Lopping or topping, or cutting branches beyond permitted pruning, counts as interfering with a protected tree. Council's fact sheet sets limits on pruning without a permit, and they don't reach significant landscape trees.
The street tree out the front
Footpath trees belong to council. The local law says nobody interferes with one except strictly under a council permit, and council issues minor street tree pruning permits on the spot.
Energex for anything near lines
Branches near street power lines are Energex's to deal with, so don't go near them. Ring Energex about trimming, or if a limb has brought a line down.
How tree pruning works in Brisbane
Trimming usually means a tidy-up: deadwood (dead branches still on the tree), crossing limbs, a lift over the driveway so the ute fits. Pruning is the umbrella word, and done to AS 4373 it means cutting just outside the branch collar, the swelling where a limb meets the trunk, so the tree can grow over the wound.
Lopping cuts limbs back to stubs. The standard lists it as unacceptable, and Brisbane's local law treats lopping a protected tree as interfering with it. The bushy regrowth that follows is often weakly attached, which is the last thing you want over a roof in a December storm. See lopping vs pruning and crown thinning and lifting.
Tree pruning in Brisbane: what you can do yourself
You can
- Snip small branches you can reach with both feet on the ground, using secateurs, loppers or a pruning saw
- Photograph the tree from a few sides and mark the limbs that worry you
- Order council's protected vegetation report for the address
- Keep the gutters clear of leaves and flowers before October
Leave to an arborist
- Anything you'd need a ladder for
- Limbs over the roof, pool, fence or neighbour's yard
- Anything within reach of a power line
- Any work on a protected or significant landscape tree
Questions to ask about tree pruning in Brisbane
- Which limbs are coming off, and roughly how much of the crown is that?
- Is this within council's limits, or does it need a permit, and who applies?
- Will the cuts follow AS 4373?
- How is the green waste dealt with, and is the site raked up?
- What public liability insurance do you carry?
Hiring an arborist for tree pruning in Brisbane
Book it for the cooler months, well before October, and ask for the cut list in writing. If the tree is a big poinciana, fig or jacaranda, we'd get the property report first: a significant landscape tree needs an AQF Level 5 arborist report for any permit, and that's worth knowing before the first branch drops.