Highton Tree Removal & Pruning
Tree and palm removal and expert pruning in Highton by a qualified, insured arborist — free quotes, 7 days a week.
- Free quotes
- Fully qualified & insured
- 16+ years
Tree removal and pruning in Highton, done properly
If a tree in Highton has become a worry — leaning after a storm, dropping limbs on the roof, lifting the paving, or simply too big for the block — Aps Tree Removal can remove it or bring it back under control. We are fully insured and led by a qualified arborist who has done this for more than 16 years.
The nearest suburbs we also cover are Wandana Heights (2 km), Belmont (2 km), Newtown (2 km), so a job in Highton is often paired with one next door.
Pruning is about the right cut, not the most cuts. We remove deadwood and hazard limbs, lift the canopy off roofs, sheds and driveways, thin a dense crown so wind moves through it instead of pushing on it, and clear power-line and neighbour boundaries. Trees pruned properly stay healthy and need less attention; trees hacked back sprout weak regrowth and become a bigger problem in Highton gardens within a couple of seasons.
Where a tree is over a house, a shed or a neighbour’s yard, nothing free-falls. A climber sets rigging points, each limb is tied off, cut and lowered under control, and the trunk comes down in short blocks. It is slower than felling and it is the only safe way to do most Highton backyards.
Tree Removal & Pruning in Highton — 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
A tree that has started to lean, or has a crack opening at a fork, is not a tree to wait on in Highton’s spring winds. Ring for a look — the assessment is free and most of the time the news is better than you fear.
The full service pages: Tree & Palm Removal and Tree Pruning — every one available in Highton.
Guides from Api: Professional hedge trimming: the DIY mistakes it avoids on Melbourne hedges · Tree removal and stump grinding: why they go together and what stump grinding costs
Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Highton?
Homeowners in Highton ask this more than anything else, so here is Greater Geelong’s rule as the council publishes it.
Greater Geelong is one of the councils without a private-tree local law: when it reviewed tree protection on private land in 2024 its officers recommended strengthening the planning scheme and asking the state for a state-wide approach rather than a local law or a significant-tree overlay.
That state-wide approach arrived in September 2025 as Clause 52.37. The council publishes its own guide: a canopy tree is more than 5 m tall with a trunk over 0.5 m around at 1.4 m and a canopy of at least 4 m; a permit is needed to remove one anywhere on a vacant residential lot, or within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary where a house already stands. Council officers may assess the application only against the clause’s own purpose and decision guidelines, and a replacement tree — at least 6 m tall and 4 m wide at maturity — is the usual condition.
Vegetation and heritage overlays on the title apply on top, especially along the Barwon and the coast.
Source: City of Greater Geelong — 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 the Geelong region. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
Tree removal around Highton
The same crew, the same day rates, in the suburbs next door:
Other services in Highton
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 the Geelong region say
V J
29 Aug 2024
Fantastic service! What a great company! Thank you Api and his amazing team. I have a large gum tree out front that had become a menace to my neighbou…
Joseph Faltas
17 Aug 2024
APi is a great guy , honest and knowledgeable
Scott Cooper
16 Aug 2024
I called to have my tree trimmed. API and team done an excellent job they came on time and cleaned up afterwards. They were very polite and friendly I…
utkarsh singh
14 Aug 2024
Api's been amazing in helping us remove hedges off our property. He is quite honest, friendly & reasonable,always wiling to share the best advise for…
Nik Westbury
8 Aug 2024
The job Api performed was top notch. His professional advice on how the job should be done was much appreciated and the clean up after left no sign of…
Taiwo Adebayo
3 Aug 2024
Excellent job on the Yucca removal and the price was good
Trisha Jenkins
26 July 2024
Api and his team were great. Friendly and responsive. Arrived on time and completed the task well. Would highly recommend.
Benjamin Phiri
24 July 2024
Had Api come around yesterday to trim some trees in the backyard that were getting too high. Api's service was well quoted and went above and beyond o…
Stewart Vong
12 July 2024
Api did an amazing job with our trees. He was very friendly and the work was done to a very high standard. I would highly recommend his services to an…
Thi Tran
11 July 2024
Api did a great job, excellent and very friendly. High recomment.
Alex Tsilemanis
12 June 2024
Api and team removed a couple of trees for us from a tricky narrow space. Great job and customer service, highly recommend.
jojo jojo
29 May 2024
Api did a great job removing and stump grinding big yuccas on the narrow side of my house. Turned up to quote and did the job by himself. Reasonable p…
Highton Tree Removal & Pruning — common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Highton?
Greater Geelong has no local law for trees on private land — its 2024 review chose not to introduce one — so the test is the state canopy-tree clause: a planning permit for a canopy tree on a vacant residential lot, or one near the front or rear boundary of a lot with a house, decided through VicSmart in about ten business days. Overlays on the title still apply. 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 Highton?
A small ornamental in an open yard can be a couple of hundred dollars; a large gum over a house is a day with a crew and rigging. Everything in between is quoted to the tree, free, with the clean-up and chipping included.
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 — most of the trees we remove are in backyards with a standard side path. Where there is no path at all we can still do it; it takes longer and the quote reflects that.
What happens to the waste?
Everything goes through our chipper on site. You can keep the mulch for the garden — it is good mulch — or we take it, along with the logs, and it goes to a green-waste recycler.
Can you save the tree instead of removing it?
That is the first question Api asks himself when he quotes. A healthy tree is worth keeping — for shade, for the street and for the value of the property — and good pruning is cheaper than removal. When it cannot be saved, he explains why.