If you are house proud and put a lot of effort into looking after the interior of your home, you will likely want to pay the same close attention to the exterior. When you have large trees in your yard or around your property, it is your responsibility to look after them. You not only need to maintain them so they are aesthetically pleasing but so they are not a safety hazard.
As working with trees can be quite tricky and skilled, it is best to leave it to the professionals. Professionals like arborists. However, if you are looking for an arborist in Melbourne, the cost is something you need factor into deciding who to hire. In the following post, we want to discuss a little about the costs involved in hiring a tree arborist, Melbourne-based or not.
Costs Will Depend on the Type of Services You Require
If you’ve been searching using the term “arborist near me” and are looking for an average of how much hiring one might cost, that’s quite difficult to say. You will find many charges around $70 an hour. However, as arborists offer a wide range of different services, and each of those services has its own specific requirements, the prices can vary greatly. What’s more, other factors such as the complexity and scale of the work, as well as how many, if any additional workers or specialist pieces of equipment are required to complete the work can also affect the price.
To help you understand this a little bit better, let’s look at some of the most common arborist services and what factors affect the price.
Tree Surgery, Pruning and Trimming
Probably some of the most common and popular arborist services, tree surgery, including trimming and pruning can be quite expensive. First and foremost, it depends on the size and number of trees require work. For example, if it’s smaller trees you need help with, some arborists may charge an hourly rate of around $35 along with additional costs for travel and setup.
With taller trees, you could be looking at spending anything from $500 to $1000 or more. It’s more expensive because the arborist will probably need to climb up the tree or use machinery to get to the highest points to remove branches. With that comes additional risks and extra safety precautions. All of which can drive the price up.
Tree Removal
Now, if you are not interested in pruning, trimming or any other forms of tree surgery or your trees are beyond repair, you may need them to be removed. Again, size is a huge determining factor in the cost of tree removal. Other factors involved in the pricing are the tree’s condition, where it is located and how easy it is to access it.
It makes sense for a very simplistic removal it would not be too expensive and could be as little as $300. However, for more complicated work involving taller trees, you could be looking to spend anything between $1,000 or even more.
Tree Reports and Tree Consulting
Not all the services offered by even the best arborist Melbourne has to offer involves the cutting or removing of trees straight away. For instance, you may need a tree consultation or tree report. While the names are often used interchangeably, reports and consultations are two very different things.
Tree reports, for instance, are often required by the local authorities if you are looking to remove a tree from your property, as various Australian trees are protected. It gets confusing though because different councils tend to protect different trees. Tree reports help identify the tree or trees you want removing as well as providing reasons for their removal. Consultations cover everything from identifying diseased trees and what can be done about them, recommending the best trees to plant on your property and so much more. Costs for these services again vary depending on the number of trees, and whether you need to submit a report to the council.