Colac Trees

A tall gum on a block with no room for a machine still has to come down, and that is the job we are set up for. Mathieu Vaupres founded Colac Trees and leads it, and alongside a Certificate III in Arboriculture, a Certificate IV in Landscaping and an Advanced Diploma in Forestry he is an IRATA and CQP qualified rope access technician. It means tree removal here happens from the ground or from the rope, whichever the site allows, so a tall or awkward tree is never the reason we say no. Everyone on the team holds at least a Certificate III in arboriculture, and we have been working Colac, the Surf Coast and the Otways for over fifteen years.

Palm tree removal and maintenance is its own discipline and we treat it as one. Fronds, seed heads and dead palms all need careful work at height, and that is exactly what the rope training is for. When weather pulls a tree apart, our storm and emergency tree works clear the dead, overhanging and dangerous branches left threatening people or property.

For the trees staying where they are, our tree pruning and maintenance work takes in canopy raising, canopy shaping and tree lopping. Where a limb or a union has gone weak on a tree worth keeping, tree bracing and cabling holds it together, and stem injection lets us treat pests and disease without felling a thing. Once a tree is down we clear the stump and the surface roots with stump grinding. We also handle hedge trimming, and flail mowing and slashing for the overgrown blocks and paddocks on rural properties, and what comes off a job goes back out as firewood and mulch supplies.

The work we are proudest of does not involve taking a tree down at all. Our wildlife habitat creation uses a Hollowhog, an Australian designed and manufactured tool that carves hollows into the toughest hardwoods. It opens a 50mm entry hole and works outward from there, up to roughly 600mm wide by 600mm long by 600mm deep, whatever the tree and the target species call for. No damage is done to the cambium, the tree's living tissue, so growth carries on with little disruption. Around three hundred Australian animals depend on hollows, among them 17 per cent of our bird species, 42 per cent of mammals and 28 per cent of reptiles, and natural hollows take a very long time to form.

We cover Colac and out through Lorne, Apollo Bay, Winchelsea, Camperdown, Terang, Inverleigh and Timboon, taking on residential, real estate, insurance, commercial and government work, and we are fully insured for public liability. We are on from 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sundays. Ring Mathieu on 0488 553 650 for a quote, and if you can find a better deal for the same standard of service, safety and insurance included, tell us about it.