Author: Steven Brown - Arborist

Short answer: in NSW the law does not decide a boundary tree by where the branches fall. It looks at where the trunk goes into the ground. Under the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006, the Land and Environment Court can only make an order against a landholder about a tree that is on their…

Short answer: usually yes. In the City of Newcastle area most established trees are declared vegetation, and you need a council permit before you clear one unless your tree fits a specific exemption. The exemptions are set out in the council’s own controls, and a dead tree, a storm damaged tree, a small tree or…

Lopping is the indiscriminate cutting of large branches, usually to reduce a tree’s size in a hurry, with little regard for where the cut lands. Topping is the same idea applied to the leader, where the top is taken out to knock the height down. Both are fast. Both look decisive on the day. The…

Your plumber has cleared the drain three times this year. Each time it’s the same tree’s roots pulling the line apart. You’re tired of paying for emergency clears, the kitchen’s been off twice in six months, and you’re starting to wonder if the simplest answer is to just take the tree out. Sometimes it is….

Tree disputes between neighbours are more common than most people expect, and more stressful than they need to be. As arborists, we get called into them regularly, sometimes by both sides of the same fence. In most cases the dispute could have been resolved much earlier with the right information and one honest conversation. Here’s…

After 27 years working across Newcastle and the Hunter Region, certain trees come up again and again. The calls are almost always the same, roots through a pipe, branches through a roof, a stump that keeps reshooting, or a tree that looked fine until it didn’t. Here are the six species we remove most often,…