Caloundra to Noosa
Tree lopping on the Sunshine Coast
A tree that has outgrown the yard can usually be brought back down to size, and where the cuts go decides whether it grows back sound or sprouts a thicket of weak shoots by next summer.
Tree lopping
What a lop usually means
People ask for a lop for one of three reasons, and each of them is a different job with a different price.
Too tall for the yard
The crown is reduced back to side branches that can take over the growing, rather than sawn off flat at one height. A flat cut leaves big wounds that rot and pushes out a mass of weak shoots, and in this climate those are back at roof height within a few seasons.
Over the roof or the pool
Only the limbs reaching over the roof, the gutters, the pool or the driveway come off, and the rest of the tree stays as it is. It is often a smaller job than the one people ring about, and it is quoted as what it is.
Weight off before the storms
Heavy ends and long limbs are shortened before the storm season, because that is the timber that fails when a summer squall comes through. Done before the season, not after something has already come down.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
The council question is answered before the price, and nothing is booked until you have the quote in writing and have said yes to it.
- 1
Tell us about the tree
The suburb, what the tree stands near and what you would like done with it.
- 2
Someone comes to look
A tree contractor who covers your area sees the tree, the access and whatever is underneath it.
- 3
The council position is checked
Lot size, how close the tree is to the house and the mapping on the block decide whether an application comes first.
- 4
Quoted in writing
Scope, timber, stump and date set out on one page. Nothing is booked until you accept it.
Lopping questions
How much can come off
How much can be taken off at once?
Less than most people expect if the tree is meant to live through it. Whoever sees the tree will say what can come off now and what should wait another year, and that belongs in the conversation before the quote, not after the job.
Is lopping the same as topping?
No, and the difference matters. Topping cuts the whole crown off at one height and leaves stubs that rot and sprout. A proper reduction takes each limb back to a branch that can take over, and that is the job that should be on the quote.
Would it be cheaper to take it out altogether?
Sometimes, and you should be told when it is. A fast growing tree that needs cutting back every couple of years can cost more over ten years than one removal, and that comparison belongs in the conversation before anyone climbs it.
Does lopping need council approval?
It can. Where a tree is protected, the council says a permit may be needed for pruning to the extent that the tree is likely to die, so a heavy lop on a protected tree is treated much like a removal. The state's koala rules go the other way: lopping a tree is not counted as interfering with koala habitat.
