Essendon Tree Removal & Pruning
Tree and palm removal and expert pruning in Essendon by a qualified, insured arborist — free quotes, 7 days a week.
- Free quotes
- Fully qualified & insured
- 16+ years

Tree removal and pruning in Essendon, done properly
Api Mariner has been climbing and cutting trees for more than 16 years, and the way he works in Essendon is the way he works everywhere: look at the tree properly, explain the options, quote the whole job including the clean-up, and turn up with the crew and gear to do it in one visit. That is the reason 1,400-plus customers across Melbourne’s north-west have used Aps Tree Removal.
The nearest suburbs we also cover are Aberfeldie (2 km), Strathmore (2 km), Moonee Ponds (2 km), so a job in Essendon is often paired with one next door. 2 of the reviews on this site are from customers in Aberfeldie, Strathmore and Moonee Ponds, next door to Essendon.
Storm-damaged and dangerous trees get priority. A split trunk, a hung-up limb or a tree that has started to lean gets assessed the same day where we can, made safe, and then either removed or reduced depending on what is left of it. Api will tell you honestly whether a damaged tree in Essendon can be saved.
Crown reductions are measured, not guessed. We agree the finished height and spread with you, cut back to suitable growth points so the tree recovers with a natural shape, and never “top” a tree — a topped tree regrows weak, fast and dangerous, and ends up costing more.
Tree Removal & Pruning in Essendon — what we do
Hazardous tree removal
Dead, leaning, split or storm-damaged trees taken down in sections.
Palm removal
Cocos, cotton and date palms removed trunk and all.
Hazard & clearance pruning
Deadwood out, canopy lifted off roofs, lines and boundaries.
Crown thinning & shaping
Wind through the canopy, light into the garden, the tree kept.
A tip from Api
Ask any arborist in Essendon two questions: are you insured, and who is actually climbing? With Aps the answers are yes, and Api or a climber he has trained and supervises. A quote that is a lot cheaper than everyone else’s usually means one of those answers is different.
The full service pages: Tree & Palm Removal and Tree Pruning — every one available in Essendon.
Guides from Api: Tree removal insurance: what home insurance covers when a tree comes down · Emergency tree removal in Melbourne: what to do first and how fast help comes
Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Essendon?
Before anything is cut in Essendon, the permit question comes first, and the answer depends on Moonee Valley City Council.
Moonee Valley’s Activities and General Amenities Local Law 2018 (clause 4.31.1) says a person must not carry out works to a significant tree or canopy tree without a permit, unless the works comply with the council’s Tree and Canopy Protection Guidelines.
A canopy tree is one with a total trunk circumference of 110 cm or more measured 1.5 m above the ground, a multi-stemmed tree whose combined circumference reaches 110 cm at that height, or any tree 150 cm around at ground level. Removal goes through a Tree Removal Permit application, and the council may ask for an arborist’s or engineer’s evidence for claims about condition or damage.
Significant trees are also protected through Schedule 2 to the Environmental Significance Overlay in the planning scheme, and the state canopy-tree clause covers the residential zones.
Source: Moonee Valley City Council — trees on private property. Read 13 September 2026; councils change their local laws, so Api checks the current rule when he quotes.
Across Victoria since 15 September 2025
Clause 52.37 Canopy Trees
A canopy tree is a tree more than 5 m tall, with a trunk circumference over 0.5 m at 1.4 m above the ground and a canopy at least 4 m across. In a residential zone a planning permit is needed to remove, destroy or lop one in a residential zone if the lot is vacant, or, where there is an existing house, if any part of the trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary.
Dead trees, emergency and safety works, maintenance pruning and listed weed species are exempt; councils usually condition a permit on planting a replacement canopy tree, and most decide these through VicSmart in about ten business days.
What this means for you: tell Api where the tree sits on the block and he will tell you whether a permit is needed before anything is cut — and where one is, we can prepare the arborist assessment the application needs.
Tree removal jobs by Api and the crew
Real jobs, real photos — Api, the crew and the truck, across Melbourne’s north-west. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
What customers near Essendon say
Tory
Aberfeldie · July 2020

Api was professional, friendly and did a great job pruning several large shrubs and trees.
Belinda
Niddrie · Jan 2023

Very prompt and efficient
Tree removal around Essendon
The same crew, the same day rates, in the suburbs next door:
Other services in Essendon
Tree services made easy
At Aps Tree Removal, we simplify the tree and hedge removal experience with a clear, step-by-step approach.
Contact us
Want to learn more? Call 0422 856 090 or send the form and speak with Api.
Get a quote
Getting a quote is quick, easy, and free.
On-site inspection
A quick, thorough site assessment — species, access and risks.
Professional removal
Clean and safe work, chipped and cleaned up — no mess, no hassle.
What clients across Melbourne’s north-west say
Essendon Tree Removal & Pruning — common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Essendon?
Yes, if it is a “canopy tree”: 110 cm or more around the trunk at 1.5 m (stems of a multi-trunk tree added together), or 150 cm at ground level. Moonee Valley’s local law requires a Tree Removal Permit for works to a canopy or significant tree, and the state canopy-tree clause applies as well. Across Victoria, Clause 52.37 Canopy Trees also applies since 15 September 2025: a planning permit is needed to remove, destroy or lop one in a residential zone if the lot is vacant, or, where there is an existing house, if any part of the trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary. Api checks both at the quote.
How much does tree removal cost in Essendon?
There is no price list because no two trees are the same. What moves the number is height, spread, what is underneath the tree, how far the chipper is from it, and whether the stump is included. Send photos or call 0422 856 090 and Api will come out to Essendon and quote it properly, at no charge.
How long does it take?
Most single trees are a morning; large ones a day. The quote gives you a start date and a finish time and we keep both.
Can you get in if the access is tight?
Yes. If a person can get to it, we can take it down in pieces small enough to carry out. Access affects the time and the quote, not whether it can be done.
What happens to the waste?
Chipped on the street and taken away, or left as mulch if you want it. Larger logs are cut to size and removed unless you ask for firewood.
Can you save the tree instead of removing it?
Often, yes. Deadwooding, a crown reduction or a canopy lift solves most of the reasons people want a tree gone — it is dropping branches, it is over the roof, it is blocking light. Api will tell you which option makes sense for the tree in front of him.



