Tree Pruning

We prune all common home orchard and backyard fruit trees, including:

• Apple and crab apple
• Pear and ornamental pear
• Cherry
• Plum and prune
• Peach and nectarine
• Apricot
• Quince
• Fig

Each of these species has a distinct growth habit, fruiting pattern, and pruning requirement. Stone fruits, for example, are pruned at a different time of year from pome fruits, and for specific reasons related to disease risk. We work to the correct timing and technique for each species rather than applying a generic approach across all fruit trees.

For clients with established orchards or productive kitchen gardens, we can develop a seasonal pruning schedule that keeps every tree in good condition across the year.

Ornamental Pear and Deciduous Tree Shaping

Maintaining the structure, form, and seasonal display of ornamental trees.

Ornamental trees earn their place in a garden through their seasonal performance: blossom in spring, summer canopy, autumn colour, and the sculptural quality of a good bare branch structure in winter. That performance is best when the tree has a sound, well-balanced framework, developed either through good formative pruning in the early years or through careful corrective work on older specimens.

Ornamental pears (Pyrus calleryana cultivars such as ‘Capital’ and ‘Chanticleer’, and Pyrus ussuriensis) are among the most commonly planted street and garden trees in Hobart, and among those that benefit most from regular light shaping. Left unpruned, they can develop crossing branches, an unbalanced canopy, and a tendency to sucker heavily at the base. Managed well, they are elegant, trouble-free trees with exceptional seasonal interest.

We also prune and shape a range of other ornamental deciduous trees commonly found in Hobart gardens, including:

• Prunus species and cultivars (flowering cherry, almond, and plum)
• Ornamental crabapple (Malus species)
• Cercis (Judas tree and redbud)
• Lagerstroemia (crepe myrtle)
• Magnolia species where size permits
• Betula (birch), smaller specimens
• Acer (Japanese maple and other ornamental maples)
• Amelanchier (serviceberry)
• Liquidambar, younger specimens

For each species, we work with the tree’s natural habit rather than against it, producing a result that looks balanced and uncontrived rather than clipped or overworked.

Formative Pruning of Young Trees

Building sound structure from the early years that serves the tree for its entire life.

The pruning decisions made in a tree’s first five to ten years have a disproportionate influence on its long-term health, structure, and appearance. A young tree that develops co-dominant leaders, narrow branch unions, crossing scaffold branches, or a lopsided canopy carries those structural weaknesses into maturity, where they become progressively more difficult and more costly to address.

Formative pruning addresses these issues while the tree is still young and the corrections are minor, establishing a clear central leader where appropriate, well-spaced scaffold branches with wide, strong unions, and a balanced canopy framework that will support the tree through decades of growth.

For newly planted trees, we recommend an initial formative assessment in the first or second growing season, followed by light annual pruning through the establishment years. The investment is small, the cuts are minor, and the long-term benefit to the tree is substantial.

We work with property developers, landscape contractors, and homeowners who have recently planted trees and want them managed correctly from the start. We also provide formative pruning as part of broader new garden establishment projects.

Crown Lifting and Canopy Thinning

Improving light, clearance, and airflow through the lower canopy of smaller trees.

Crown lifting, the removal of the lowest branches of a tree to increase clearance beneath the canopy, is one of the most practically useful forms of pruning for residential gardens. It improves light to lawn and garden beds beneath the tree, creates clearance over pathways, fences, and outdoor areas, and often significantly improves the visual appeal of the tree by revealing its trunk and branch structure.

Canopy thinning removes selected branches from within the canopy to improve light penetration and air movement without changing the overall size or silhouette of the tree. It is particularly useful for trees whose density is causing problems for plants growing beneath them, or where a heavily congested canopy is creating conditions that favour fungal disease.

Both services are carried out with attention to the tree’s response: we remove no more than is necessary to achieve the intended outcome, and we avoid leaving large wounds or making cuts that compromise the tree’s structural integrity.

Dead-Wooding and Safety Pruning

Removing dead, damaged, and structurally compromised branches on smaller trees.

Dead wood in a tree is not simply an aesthetic concern. Dead branches lose their structural integrity over time and can drop without warning, posing a risk to people, property, and plants beneath. On smaller trees within our working height, dead-wooding is a straightforward preventative measure that improves safety and the tree’s appearance simultaneously.

Safety pruning more broadly covers the removal of branches that overhang structures, cross pathways, touch fences or buildings, or are showing signs of structural weakness such as included bark, split unions, or decay. For trees within our three-metre working height, we can carry out this work as part of a routine maintenance visit or as a standalone safety check.

Where a tree’s safety concerns extend beyond the height or structural complexity we work within, we will advise you clearly and recommend referral to a qualified arborist. We’d rather be honest about scope than attempt work that carries risk we’re not equipped to manage safely.

Seasonal Pruning Programmes

Scheduled pruning at the right time for every tree on your property.

Different trees require pruning at different times of year, and the timing matters more than many people realise. Pruning deciduous fruit trees in winter, when the tree is dormant, minimises disease risk and allows energy to be directed into new productive growth come spring. Pruning stone fruits later in the season, when wounds heal more quickly, reduces exposure to fungal disease. Pruning flowering ornamentals at the wrong point in the season can remove the growth that carries next year’s flower buds.

For properties with multiple trees of different species, managing the right pruning window for each tree is a genuine coordination task. We can develop a seasonal pruning schedule across your whole property, so each tree is attended to at the right time without it falling to you to track.

For clients on regular garden maintenance programmes, tree pruning is integrated into the seasonal calendar alongside other maintenance tasks, so it happens when it should, consistently, year after year.

Pruning Timing: A Practical Guide for Hobart Gardens

Deciduous fruit trees (apple, pear, quince). Winter pruning, while the tree is fully dormant, is the standard approach. In Hobart, this typically means June through to late July, before bud burst. Pruning in full dormancy minimises stress to the tree and allows clear assessment of the branch structure without foliage in the way.

Stone fruits (cherry, plum, peach, nectarine, apricot). These are best pruned in late summer to autumn in Australia, after harvest and while the tree is still in active growth. This timing allows wounds to callus over quickly, reducing the risk of fungal infection through open cuts. Avoid winter pruning for stone fruits where possible.

Ornamental pears and crabapples. Late winter to early spring, before bud burst, is the ideal window. Any structural work or significant shaping is best done while the tree is dormant; light tidying and dead-wooding can be carried out at most times of year.

Flowering cherries and ornamental Prunus. Prune after flowering in spring, or in late summer. Avoid pruning in wet, cold conditions where possible.

Japanese maples. Late winter while fully dormant, or mid-summer after the spring growth has hardened. Avoid pruning in spring when sap is actively rising, as this can cause the tree to bleed excessively.

Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia). Late winter before new growth emerges. We would note that the common practice of cutting crepe myrtles back to heavy stubs, sometimes called “crepe murder” in horticultural circles, is not an approach we take. We prune to maintain a natural, graceful form rather than a lopped silhouette.

Magnolia. Immediately after flowering where possible, to avoid removing next season’s buds. Magnolias do not respond well to hard pruning and we work lightly and selectively on these trees.

We manage these seasonal windows as part of an ongoing programme, so the work happens at the right time without you needing to track it.

What We Don’t Do, and Why That Matters

We work on trees up to three metres in height. Above that threshold, tree work requires elevated access equipment, specialist risk assessment, and in many cases a qualification in arboriculture that is distinct from general horticultural training. Attempting significant pruning on large trees without the appropriate skills, equipment, and insurance is genuinely dangerous, and it is not something we are willing to do simply because a client asks.

If you have trees that exceed our working height, or that present structural concerns requiring a qualified arborist’s assessment, we will tell you and point you in the right direction. In some cases, we can continue to manage the lower canopy and understorey work on the same tree while an arborist attends to the upper structure.

It is also worth noting that many Hobart properties have council overlays or vegetation protection orders that restrict pruning or removal of significant trees. If you are uncertain whether your tree is subject to any such protection, checking with the City of Hobart or your relevant council before carrying out significant pruning is worthwhile. This is your responsibility as the property owner, but we will flag it if we notice a situation that looks like it may be relevant.

How We Work

1. Assessment We assess each tree before quoting: species, age, current structure, any existing damage or disease, and what the pruning is intended to achieve. For fruit trees, we consider the fruiting history and the current balance between fruiting wood and vegetative growth.

2. Clear Scope We confirm the scope of work with you before starting, including which branches are being removed and why. There should be no surprises when we’re done.

3. Pruning We work methodically and carefully, using clean, sharp tools appropriate to the branch size. Cuts are made to the correct pruning points, whether that’s a lateral branch, a bud, or the branch collar at a removal cut. We do not leave stubs, and we do not make cuts that unnecessarily expose large wound surfaces.

4. Clean-Up All prunings are collected and removed as part of the service. If the volume of material is suitable for chipping on-site and you’d like it retained as mulch, we can discuss that as part of the job.

5. Observation and Advice We note anything significant about the tree’s condition, pests, disease signs, structural concerns, and mention it directly. A problem caught early is almost always easier and less costly to address than one that develops over time unnoticed.