Tree Care Consulting

Advice on a development site is written to AS4970-2009, the standard for protecting trees on development sites, and pruning specifications to AS4373-2007. Tree Care Consulting is headed by Jimmy Ross, an AQF Level 5 arborist holding a Diploma in Arboriculture, with more than ten years in the tree care industry and a solid stretch of it inside a council Parks Planning department. It is a family owned Australian business, and it services Geelong and greater Victoria.

On the planning side we produce preconstruction and design reports while there is still room to move a footing, then construction impact reports once the design is fixed and the question becomes what the build will actually do to the trees. Tree protection and management plans set out the measures for the site, project supervision keeps them in place while the work goes on, and we advise on the management of trees through subdivisions where a single title becomes several. Where the roots are the unknown, exploratory root excavations establish what is under the ground before a design commits to it.

For the trees themselves, a health assessment report works out what condition a tree is in and why it is declining, and a practical tree management plan turns that into work you can actually schedule and budget. Pruning advice and specifications are written to AS4373-2007 for amenity trees, so a contractor is given a scope rather than a free hand.

Tree hazard assessment covers the risk side, from a single tree over a house to the risk management of large tree populations across a school, a golf course or a council reserve. For residential properties where the trees are part of the negotiation, pre-sale consultancy gives you the position before contracts are signed, and tree planting and transplanting advice deals with what goes in and what can be moved rather than lost.

The client list runs from land developers, town planning consultants, project managers, architects and building designers through to golf courses, schools, builders, local government departments and homeowners. Behind that sits membership of Arboriculture Australia and the Victorian Tree Industry Organisation, a Diploma of Horticulture in Arboriculture from Fairfield Polytechnic, Cert III Arboriculture from South West TAFE, and cover of $20,000,000 public liability and $5,000,000 professional indemnity.

Ring or email with the site address and what the council, the buyer or the builder has asked for. We will tell you which report answers it, what the inspection involves, and how quickly it can be turned around.