Tree pruning and lopping in Wanneroo
| Lopping or topping | Pruning to the standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the cut goes | Between branch points, leaving a stub | Back to a branch or the trunk, just outside the collar |
| What grows back | A bushy mass of shoots, often weakly attached | Much less regrowth, and the wound can close over |
| What AS 4373-2007 says | Listed as an unacceptable practice | Sets out classes like crown thinning, reduction and deadwooding |
| What to ask for | Rarely the right request | Describe the problem: height, the roof, shade, the wires |
Where can Wanneroo prunings go?
Wanneroo is inside the borer's Management Zone, the inner part of the quarantine area over the Perth metro.
That limits where cut material can travel. Unseasoned wood, and green waste or mulch over 2.5 cm across, can't go from here into the Containment Zone, which takes in Butler and Yanchep, or out of the quarantine area, and chippers must be cleaned before they cross over.
So ask where the load is headed before the work starts. If a tree shows small round holes, gumming or sawdust-like frass, report it to DPIRD or through the MyPestGuide app, and hold off pruning it until you've had their advice.
Tree lopping in Wanneroo: what's local
Wetland country
Wetlands run north and south of the suburb, parallel to the coast, and the City describes much of its land as interconnected wetlands. Lake Joondalup and Lake Goollelal belong to the Yellagonga wetlands, in a regional park the City shares with Joondalup and the state.
Left behind by market gardeners
WA's heritage inventory records bamboo that market gardeners planted for stakes and a fenceline, still growing at Lake Joondalup north of Ocean Reef Road. Old bamboo spreading through a garden is a job of its own; see our bamboo guide.
Canopy worth keeping
The City's Urban Forest Strategy 2022 puts Wanneroo's tree cover at about 16.59%, well above the City-wide 9.88%, and lists the suburb among those where it wants no net loss by 2040.
Firebreak season
City firebreaks go in by 1 November and stay until 30 April, 3 m wide with 4 m of clear height, so low branches over one have to be cut back.
Tree removal permits in Wanneroo
The City's tree pages deal with street trees, not private ones, so ask the City directly before a large tree on your land is removed or cut back hard. In WA, clearing native vegetation without a permit or an exemption is an offence, and our WA permits page explains how that works.
Trees and power lines in Wanneroo
Keep everyone at least 8 metres back and treat the line as live, as Western Power advises. Report it to Western Power, or call 000 first if anyone is hurt or something's burning. A tree already touching a line is a fault to report, not a pruning request.
Hiring an arborist in Wanneroo
We'd tell the arborist the problem, not the cut: the branch over the roof, the shade on the vegie patch, the limb heading for the wires. Then we'd let them propose the pruning. We'd also want the quote to say where the wood and green waste are going under the Management Zone rules, and we'd keep a healthy big tree if a careful prune can make it safe.