Top 6 arborists on the Gold Coast

Frontier has been working on Gold Coast trees since 1991 and runs out of Molendinar. Director Simon Lonsdale trained in the UK and, the business says, has been a council arboriculture planning officer, a president of the Queensland Arboricultural Association and a tree assessor for QCAT.

That background shows in the consulting side. An AQF Level 5 arborist prepares arborist reports, tree retention plans and vegetation management plans for council and development applications, while Level 3 climbers do the pruning, removals, palm work and stump grinding. Body corporate tree management is a regular line of work.

JC Tree Services is run from Gaven by Jez Copley, a Level 5 arborist who completed his Diploma of Arboriculture in 2013 and has close to three decades in the trade, according to the company. It is a QAA qualified member.

Jez prepares the arborist reports, including tree risk assessments, health and condition reports, arboricultural impact assessments and tree protection plans for development sites, and the company says it follows QAA reporting guidelines. The crews then carry out removals, pruning, palm work, stump grinding and land clearing, with 24 hour storm call-outs on offer.

Tree Essence is a family-run Nerang business started in 2013 by Jamie Montgomery, who began as a sub-contract climber on difficult removals for other tree companies. He finished a Diploma in Arboriculture in 2012 and has placed at state and national tree climbing championships, according to the QAA listing.

The consulting arm is staffed by AQF Level 5 arborists, the business says, and writes reports for council and development applications, tree disputes and project arborist work. Crews handle removals, pruning, palm care, cabling and bracing, and habitat creation. Customers often mention Jamie's eye for palm health and pest problems.

Jungle Jess is a husband and wife arborist business based in Bonogin. Jess and Wil hold Level 3 and Level 5 arborist qualifications between them, the business says, and one of them is on every job with their own climbing and ground crew rather than subcontractors.

Their reports cover the cases that matter most on the Gold Coast: dangerous-tree determinations by a Level 5 arborist, pest species identification for council exemptions, council removal applications and development assessments. They also write insurance, neighbour dispute and body corporate reports, and do removals, pruning, palm cleaning and stump grinding.

Mick Brewer Tree Services is a locally owned business working out of Molendinar, with AQF Level 3 and Level 5 arborist qualifications, the business says. Reviewers mention clear explanations of the job before work starts.

Alongside removals, lopping, palm work, stump grinding and land clearing, the company lists arborist reports and tree health assessments, and offers safe work method statements on request. It works seven days across the Gold Coast and Logan and sells mulch from the yard.

Heritage Tree Care has been operating in Queensland since 1994 and runs a Gold Coast depot in Molendinar alongside its Brisbane, Redlands and Toowoomba yards. Its Gold Coast consulting is led by Tony Cockram, an AQF Level 5 arborist with more than 35 years in the industry, much of it as a senior arborist in local and state government.

Tony is a former QAA president and QCAT tree assessor who uses QTRA and TRAQ risk methods. Beyond reports, the company does removals, pruning, cabling, crane work and stump grinding, plus soil testing and plant health care through its agronomists, the business says.