Nuleaf Tree Services

The Macedon Ranges is full of trees that were planted before anyone living here was born, and they do not behave like the ones in a new estate. That is the ground we have worked at Nuleaf Tree Services for more than 25 years. Craig Lockens is a Macedon Ranges local who trained as an arborist at the University of Melbourne's Burnley Horticultural College, and he leads a handpicked crew across Mount Macedon, Woodend, Gisborne, Macedon, Kyneton, Riddells Creek, Romsey, Trentham, Newham, Hesket, Cherokee, Bullengarook, Sunbury and Bacchus Marsh.

Working on an old tree is a different discipline from ordinary tree work, and it asks for an arborist skilled in the science and practice of tree preservation. The pruning and restoration of historic and significant trees is work we take on, and it starts a long way before the saw comes out: reading what the tree has already been through, working out what is behind a decline, and deciding what will still hold true in twenty years. Sometimes the answer is careful pruning. Sometimes it is soil management, or monitoring the tree and doing nothing yet. We weigh up the aesthetics, biodiversity, amenity and safety of a tree together, so taking one out is a conclusion we arrive at, not the place we start.

Behind that sits the paperwork you would want on a crew working over your roof. Between us we hold two Associate Diplomas in Arboriculture, one from Burnley and one from Melbourne Polytechnic, five Certificates III in Arboriculture from Melbourne Polytechnic and Wodonga TAFE, and two Certificates II. On top of that we carry 20 million dollars of public liability cover and professional indemnity insurance. It is what lets us treat the everyday jobs with the same care: where a tree genuinely has to go we handle the tree removal, where it can be kept we do the tree pruning that keeps it sound and safe, and we grind the stump out afterwards so nothing is left sitting in the lawn.

If you are trying to make a decision about a tree, the useful first step is usually an assessment and report. We prepare them for council and planning matters, for safety questions, and for owners who want to know what they are actually dealing with before they spend a dollar. What you get back is a considered quote and down to earth advice, with your safety and the long term health of the tree at the centre of the recommendation. Ring Craig on 0419 323 261 and tell him which tree is worrying you.