Rigoni Tree Solutions

Rigoni Tree Solutions is Shaun Rigoni's business, started in 2013 once he had finished his diploma of arboriculture. He grew up on a beef farm in north east Victoria and came down to Melbourne in 1998, where he started climbing. The team now spans arborists from AQF level 3 through to level 8, and the description they use for themselves is your friendly neighbourhood tree doctor, which fits better than most taglines in this trade.

Tree removal and pruning is the core service. Hazard tree reduction is the preventive version, taking the risk out of a tree that is starting to fail without taking the whole tree with it. Hedge trimming covers the formal work. Emergency makesafe works deals with trees that have already come down or are about to, using a crane where one is warranted and technical rigging where it is not, working off nearby trees and in ground anchors with pulleys and props.

The consulting side is substantial. Arborist reports are prepared for councils and planning matters, written by someone who still does the climbing, which tends to keep the recommendations practical. Tree root investigation is the specific one: working out where the roots actually run when a tree is being blamed for a cracked slab, a lifted path or a blocked drain. That is a question guesswork answers badly and expensively.

Tree selection and planting is the long view, matching species to the soil, the space and the overhead lines so the tree does not become the next owner's problem. Possum guarding fits guards to stop possums using a trunk as the route into a roof. Qualified work observation puts an arborist on site while other trades work near a tree that is being retained, which is frequently a permit condition and a good deal cheaper than explaining afterwards why the tree died.

The service area runs across the inner east and down to the bay: Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, Box Hill, Richmond, South Yarra, Malvern East and Caulfield North, along with Melbourne CBD, then through Brighton, Elwood, Cheltenham and Mordialloc along the bay. That is a lot of established gardens carrying big old trees, and a fair share of the work is keeping them standing rather than taking them out.