A suburb built on the sides of gullies
Lane Cove, Riverview, Longueville, Northwood and Lane Cove North share one defining feature: the ground does not stay flat for long. Streets run along ridges and the blocks drop away behind the houses toward the Lane Cove River, Tambourine Bay and Burns Bay. A great many gardens here are only reachable on foot.
That single fact governs every quote. The tree is climbed, dismantled and lowered — there is nowhere for an elevated work platform and often nowhere for a truck within fifty metres — and then every piece of it is carried up to the street.
What grows here
The river corridor carries remnant Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest on the shale-sandstone transition, with turpentine, grey ironbark, blackbutt and Sydney blue gum. It is a critically endangered ecological community, and where a tree forms part of a remnant it carries protection well beyond an ordinary council permit. Further down toward the water the ground goes to sandstone and you get angophora, Sydney peppermint and smooth-barked apple hanging over the rock.
Against all that native material sits a century of planting. The older streets around Lane Cove Plaza and Longueville Road are thick with camphor laurel, privet, cocos palm and jacaranda, and the weed species in particular are what most removal work involves.
Lane Cove Council
Lane Cove Council regulates tree removal and major pruning on private land through its development control plan. Applications are assessed, replacement planting is regularly required, and the bushland corridor blocks attract more scrutiny than the flatter streets. Street and verge trees are council assets.
Because the boundary between council bushland and private land is often just a fence at the bottom of a slope, it pays to be sure which side of it a tree is on before quoting it. We check.
Access problems worth knowing about
Beyond the stairs, three things come up repeatedly on Lane Cove blocks. Sandstone retaining walls, which will not take the weight of a machine and are expensive to repair. Old sandstone flagging and steps that chip badly under a barrow. And services — a lot of these gardens have irrigation, garden lighting and old terracotta sewer running through exactly where a stump needs grinding.
Tell us what is buried and where the boundary sits, and the quote will be accurate.
Ring (02) 9090 4915. Nearby: Chatswood, Willoughby and Ryde. The cost guide explains why access dominates the price here.
Frequently asked questions
Why are Lane Cove quotes higher than flat-block quotes?
Because the timber has to come up rather than out. On a Riverview or Longueville block where the garden is three flights below the street, every piece of the tree is carried by hand to the chipper. The cutting time is the same as anywhere; the removal time is several times longer, and that is where the cost sits.
Do trees near Lane Cove National Park have extra protection?
Often. Bushland along the river corridor includes remnants of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest, which is listed as critically endangered, and Lane Cove Council applies tree controls on private land as well. Trees inside the national park itself are National Parks and Wildlife Service land and are not touched by anyone privately.
Can you get a stump grinder to a garden down a flight of steps?
A narrow-access machine can be walked down steps if they are sound and not too steep, and that covers a good number of Lane Cove blocks. Where it cannot, the options are hand excavation or leaving the stump and planting around it. We work out which one applies while quoting rather than turning up with the wrong machine.