When you need it
Pruning is about keeping a tree, not getting rid of it. We do a lot of:
- Crown thinning, so wind passes through the canopy instead of catching it like a sail
- Deadwooding, taking out dead limbs before they fall on someone
- Crown lifting, raising the canopy to clear the roof, driveway or footpath
- Mango height control, so you can actually reach the fruit
- General shaping and clearance from the house and fences
Pre-cyclone pruning
The best window is September to early November, before the wet kicks in. Once a cyclone's on the radar, every tree service in town is booked out and you're stuck watching the tree from the window. A bit of pruning now costs a lot less than a tree through the roof later.
How we do it
We cut back to healthy growth points, never leaving stubs, and we don't take more than the tree can handle. Heavy limbs over the roof get roped down. Everything's chipped and taken away, or left as mulch if you want it.
One thing we won't do is lion-tailing. That's stripping out all the inner branches and leaving tufts on the ends. It looks thinned, but it puts all the weight at the tips and makes the tree more likely to fail in wind.
Townsville-specific considerations
Mangoes are best pruned straight after fruiting. Rain trees and mahoganies need regular weight taken off the long horizontal limbs. Poincianas have brittle wood and shallow roots, so a lighter canopy helps them stay upright in a blow.
What it costs
Pruning and trimming usually runs $250 to $900 per tree, depending on size, access and how much is coming off.
| Job | Typical Townsville price (inc GST) |
|---|---|
| Tree pruning / trimming (per tree) | $250 – $900 |
| Small tree removal (under 5m) | $300 – $900 |
| Medium tree removal (5–10m) | $900 – $2,700 |
These are ballpark ranges. See the full Townsville tree removal price guide for what pushes a price up or down, or check our FAQs.