How we work
Ropes, lowering lines and a lot of steps
Most Mosman gardens fall away from the street towards the water. That shapes every job: how we get in, where a branch can safely come down, and how the timber gets back up to the truck.
Steep sandstone blocks, harbour bushland at the bottom of the garden, and a council that wants an application for almost every cut. We come across the Spit from North Narrabeen, and Alex quotes every Mosman job himself.
Most Mosman gardens fall away from the street towards the water. That shapes every job: how we get in, where a branch can safely come down, and how the timber gets back up to the truck.
This is the rule that catches people out. Most councils let you do some light maintenance without asking. North Sydney allows small cuts under 10% of the crown, and Ku-ring-gai lets you cut back branches over the roof. Mosman Council has no general pruning allowance. Its own wording is that all pruning on private and public land needs consent unless the tree is an exempt species.
So lifting a canopy to get light onto the lawn, taking a limb back off the gutter or thinning a tree to open up a view all need an approved application first, as long as the tree is protected. That covers most established trees in Mosman, because a tree is protected from 5 metres tall.
What you can do without an application is short. Dead wood can come out of trees on private land. Exempt species (the list is below) can be pruned. Ausgrid's own contractors clear trees from power lines, and clearing allowed under the NSW 10/50 bushfire scheme sits outside the rules too.
When a neighbour's branches hang over your side, you can apply to council to prune just the overhang, and the tree owner doesn't need to sign if the work can be done from your property. If we'd need to go onto their land, the owner has to agree. Approval from council never gives anyone the right to walk onto the neighbour's property.
Mosman Council describes much of the suburb's bushland as part of Sydney Harbour National Park, in the big tracts at Middle Head, Georges Heights and Bradley's Head. The most common native community is regrowth Sydney Sandstone Gully Forest, and council points to Parriwi Park, at the top of Spit Road, as its best undisturbed example. Bradley's Bushland Reserve carries Coastal Sandstone Heath and is named for the Bradley sisters, pioneers of the Bradley Method of bush regeneration.
Plenty of Mosman gardens back straight onto that bush. On the sandstone you'll find Angophora costata (Sydney Red Gum), with its smooth pink-orange bark and twisting limbs, growing out of shallow soil and across rock shelves. Protection in Mosman is by size, the same as for any other tree, so a red gum over 5 metres needs consent for pruning or removal and a young one under the size rules doesn't.
Some trees carry extra weight. Council keeps an Urban Forest Management Register of significant public and private trees, which includes the Balmoral figs and the Holt Avenue plane trees. A tree on the register needs consent whatever its size. We check the register before we quote any work on a large old tree.
We go into every quote looking for a way to keep the tree. Mosman Council's guidance lists things that don't usually justify pruning or removal: leaf, bark and twig drop into gutters and pools, minor shading, unsupported fears about a healthy tree failing, and minor damage to paths or driveways. Council also says it generally won't allow a tree to come out to improve a view. If your tree is sound, Alex will tell you so, and quote the deadwooding that fixes the actual problem.
Nothing gets dropped. On a slope a falling limb keeps going, into the pool fence, the neighbour's roof or the bush below. We climb, cut in sections and lower each piece on a rope.
Access is planned at the quote. Alex walks the route from the truck to the tree and back, counts the steps and checks the side passage, so the price allows for carrying everything out.
Bushland stays untouched. Where a garden runs into national park or reserve, we keep our work and our debris on your side of the boundary.
You get the consent first. We won't start pruning or removing a protected Mosman tree until you have council's approval in hand.
A tree in Mosman is protected if it is 5 metres or more tall, or if its trunk circumference is 450 mm or more measured 300 mm above the ground. Any tree on the Urban Forest Management Register is protected too. In a heritage conservation area, or on a property that is or includes a heritage item, the height trigger drops to 2 metres. Tree ferns, Cyathea australis (Rough Tree Fern) and Cyathea cooperi (Lacy Tree Fern), are protected from 2 metres.
Pruning a protected tree needs consent just as removal does. The exempt species, which you can prune or remove without applying, include Camphor Laurel under 10 metres, Privet, Willow, Mulberry, Prunus, citrus, hibiscus, Cocos Palm, Rubber Tree, Umbrella Tree, Wild Olive, and Cypress and Leighton Green. Dead wood in trees on private land is exempt.
If you're applying because you believe a tree is dangerous, council needs a report from an independent consulting arborist (AQF Level 5) who doesn't carry out pruning or removal work. Council's own assessment is a visual inspection and isn't a hazard assessment. We do the tree work, so we can't write that report, but we can point you to an independent consultant.
Applications are made online or through council's Trees Mosman app, and assessment usually takes up to 10 working days. Working without consent can bring substantial fines or a court conviction, and council says the person who engages someone to do the work can be liable as well.
Source: Mosman Council, Tree management. Checked October 2026.
How each service works under Mosman's rules and on Mosman's ground.
Once consent is granted, we take the tree down piece by piece and lower each section on ropes, so nothing rolls down the slope. The timber is carried up to the street, however many steps that takes.
Because Mosman asks for an application for nearly all pruning, we write down exactly which branches we'd take and why, so your application describes the work clearly. Cuts follow AS 4373, which council also requires.
Cypress and Leighton Green are exempt species in Mosman, so trimming them needs no application. Council asks owners to keep Leighton Green hedges at a height that respects the neighbours' sun and views.
Cocos Palms are on Mosman's exempt list, so you can have them cleaned up or taken out without applying. Other palms are treated like any other tree, and a tall one needs consent before it's pruned.
Stumps on sandstone are their own job. We look at the rock before we quote and tell you how deep the grind can go. More on that below.
If a tree or limb has come down on the house, the driveway or a fence, call 0452 030 077. Alex answers the phone and will tell you what can be made safe straight away.
A tree on a Mosman slope often grows straight out of a crack in the rock, with its roots wrapped over a sandstone shelf a short way down. A grinder can't cut through rock. Where the shelf sits close to the surface the grind stops there, and the stump area finishes at the level of the stone. Alex checks for rock around the stump at the quote and tells you then how deep we expect to get, so you can plan a garden bed or paving around it.
We own our machine, a Bandit SG40 stump grinder. It is 74 cm across the tracks, which gets it through a standard side gate and along most garden paths. Where the only way down to a stump is a run of stairs, we'll tell you at the quote what that means for the job.
When we take a tree out, the stump can be ground on the same visit, so there's no second booking. And if you've got one old stump sitting in the lawn from years ago, that's worth a visit on its own. More about stump grinding
Do I really need council approval just to prune a tree in Mosman?
Yes, if the tree is protected. Mosman Council requires consent for all pruning unless the tree is an exempt species. A tree is protected from 5 metres tall or a trunk circumference of 450 mm measured 300 mm above the ground. Dead wood in trees on private land is exempt, so deadwooding can go ahead without an application.
My house is in a heritage conservation area. Does that change anything?
Yes. In a heritage conservation area, or on a heritage item, a tree is protected from 2 metres tall instead of 5 metres. That brings in a lot of smaller garden trees. Tree ferns of 2 metres or more are protected anywhere in Mosman.
I think my tree is dangerous. Can it come out without the usual application?
You still apply, and for a dangerous-tree claim Mosman Council needs a report from an independent consulting arborist (AQF Level 5) who doesn't do pruning or removal work. Council doesn't do hazard assessments itself. We can point you to an independent consultant, and if a tree or limb has already fallen, call us on 0452 030 077.
Can I cut back my neighbour's branches that hang over my side?
You can apply to council to prune the overhanging branches. If the work can be done from your property, the tree owner doesn't have to give approval. If we'd need to go onto their land, they must agree first, because council's consent doesn't give anyone the right to enter the neighbour's property.
Can I remove a tree to open up my harbour view?
Mosman Council says it generally won't permit trees to be removed to improve views. What we can often help with is deadwooding, which needs no application, or a pruning application with a clear scope that council can assess.
Real Google reviews from our customers.
"Alex provided expert advice on our large gum, and delivered a professional service at a fair and reasonable price. And all done super efficiently within a week. Highly recommended."
"Alex is super knowledgeable and helpful when dealing with unruly trees, and what can and can't be done re. northern beaches council rules and regulations. Responded quickly, came over in person, had a look, and the job was done with all clean-up as well!…"
"Highly recommended, very friendly and they did an awesome job, going above and beyond for me. Much appreciated. Thank you Alex and the crew"
We work in Mosman regularly and know the suburb well. Call us directly or send an enquiry — we'll come to you, assess the trees and give you a straight, honest price.
0452 030 077