Hiring Tree Work in Canterbury: Insurance, Qualifications and What a Quote Should Itemise
In September 2023 I was called to a lifestyle block outside Lincoln to find out why the septic system had […]
Pruning, Removal & Firewood
Roots, Drains & Hard Surfaces
Tree Roots in Sewer Laterals: Diagnosis Before the Dig
A Sydenham villa off Colombo Street, July 2022: the gully trap outside the laundry was lifting its grate every time […]
Rules & Boundaries
What an Arborist’s Report Should Contain Before You Apply for Consent
The first arborist’s report I ever handed to a council planner came back with a sticky note: “this is a […]
Roots, Drains & Hard Surfaces
A Retaining Wall Next to a Waikato Peat Tree Line: Roots on the Wrong Side
In February 2019 I was called to a stormwater line that had stopped flowing behind a 1.6-metre timber retaining wall […]
Trees & Storms
Willows on the Avon and Heathcote: Why the Council Keeps Taking Them Out
The first willow root I ever pulled from a sewer lateral came from a section on River Road in Avonside, […]
Rules & Boundaries
Planting Under Established Trees in Rotorua: Shade, Roots and Geothermal Ground
In 2019 I spent a winter on a line-clearance contract around Rotorua, working the roads between Ngongotahā and the lake […]
Pruning, Removal & Firewood
Stump Grinding Versus Poisoning: What Comes Back
Every winter the line-clearance crew I climb with takes out a few dozen trees along the rural roads west of […]
Roots, Drains & Hard Surfaces
Frost, Loess and a Sycamore: Repairing a Dunedin Driveway Lifted by Roots
My brother bought a 1950s brick and tile house in Mornington in 2022, on one of those Dunedin streets where […]
Rules & Boundaries
Who Owns the Tree on the Boundary Line? Overhanging Branches and Fallen Fruit
Last autumn I was sent to Aldwins Road in Linwood to cut back a plum tree dropping fruit onto a […]
Roots, Drains & Hard Surfaces
Trees Above a Retaining Wall in Auckland Clay: Roots, Weight and Drainage
In February 2023 I spent three weeks in Auckland on storm response after Cyclone Gabrielle, working out of a yard […]