Walton's Tree Care Service

Walton's Tree Care Service works out of Woonona, on the northern side of Wollongong, and has been operating in the region for more than two decades. Terry answers the mobile himself. The client list is broader than most local tree outfits: alongside households, they work for strata managers, real estate property managers, government departments, schools and TAFE colleges, which is the sort of work you only keep if the paperwork and the site safety hold up.

Tree pruning is the bread and butter, all of it carried out to the Australian Standard AS 4373. That covers cutting back branches encroaching on a building or a neighbour, crown lifting for clearance over footpaths and driveways, trimming limbs away from service wires, and taking out dead or diseased wood so the rest of the tree does better. Palm maintenance is a service of its own: seed pods, dead fronds and fruit cleared out, or the whole palm removed if it has outstayed its welcome.

On tree removals, climbers dismantle the tree rather than dropping it. Branches come off one at a time and are lowered on rigging and a lowering device so nothing lands on the garden beds or the fence, and a cherry picker or elevated platform is used where the access suits it. All of it is done in line with Australian Standards and WorkCover requirements. Stump removal follows so the ground is usable again.

They are useful on the council side too, which is where a lot of Illawarra tree jobs stall. Councils have strict rules about which trees can be touched, and Walton's will assess the tree and help with the permit application. Their site points people at the tree management forms for Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama councils, and at the NSW Rural Fire Service 10/50 rule, which lets owners on bushfire-prone land clear trees within 10 metres of the house without a permit, conditions applying.

Storm and insurance work is handled as well, for wind-broken limbs and lightning-struck trees, and the crew have been through insurance jobs plenty of times before. The service area runs across the Illawarra: Coledale, Austinmer, Wombarra, Thirroul, Bulli, Woonona, Corrimal, Balgownie, Mount Pleasant, Wollongong, Mangerton, Figtree, Cordeaux Heights, Port Kembla, Lake Illawarra, Dapto, Albion Park, Shellharbour and Kiama. The business carries $20 million public and product liability cover and workers compensation for all staff, and quotes are free and without obligation.