Summerland Tree Services

Summerland Tree Services works out of Ballina and covers the Northern Rivers. It has been growing with the community since 2013, and the pitch is a plain one: not a big faceless company, but neighbours keeping local homes and businesses safe one tree at a time.

Tim, who runs it, came to the trade the long way round. He gave up highway driving for tree work, spent the better part of two decades earning his Certified Arborist qualification at AQF3 and his climbing certification, and then bought the business. It is the sort of background that shows on the job, someone who learned to climb well before he owned the company. The crew are AQF3 certified arborists and qualified climbers, fully licensed and insured.

Tree removal is the main work, from a dead tree over a driveway to something large and awkward hard up against a house. The crew dismantle rather than drop where the situation calls for it, working trees in tight spots near buildings and power lines. Council approval is part of that conversation, because some trees here are protected, and Summerland will handle the paperwork and the arborist reports that go with an application. Debris is dealt with either way: mulching on site with branches chipped where they fall, or the lot carted off, whichever the owner prefers.

Stump grinding takes out what is left underground so the ground can be turfed or planted over. Quotes are free, and rather than quote a timeframe blind, the company assesses size, location, access and complexity first and gives an estimate with the price.

Emergency tree removal is offered 24/7 across the Northern Rivers. That is the call after a storm, when a limb has come through a roof or a trunk is resting on a fence or a shed and it cannot wait for business hours. Having qualified climbers on the crew counts for most in exactly that situation, where a tree has to be taken apart under load rather than simply felled.

Summerland covers Ballina, Lennox Head, Byron Bay, Evans Head and Lismore, with a page on the site for each, plus a local shire information page acknowledging that what you are allowed to do with a tree here is a council by council matter. Phone 0417 698 227.