Questions, answered properly.

It depends which municipality the tree stands in, and the three main ones differ. Courtenay regulates the removal of trees over 20cm in diameter at breast height under its Tree Protection Bylaw, and protected species such as Garry oak and Pacific dogwood at any size. Comox regulates priority native species from 20cm and other species from 30cm. Cumberland has no tree bylaw at the time of writing, though it does keep a list of significant trees. Confirm the current rule with your own municipality before booking any removal.

An arborist report is a written assessment by a certified arborist identifying the trees on a property, their size and condition, and what is proposed for them. Municipalities ask for one with most tree permit applications and with development near retained trees. It is a professional opinion, not a permit — the municipality still decides.

Most tree bylaws carry an exemption for a tree that is dead or presents an immediate hazard, but the exemption usually has to be documented rather than assumed. Photograph the tree before anything is cut and get an assessment in writing. Removing a regulated tree and arguing about it afterwards is the expensive order to do it in.

Tree removal is priced per site, not per tree, because the same tree is a two-hour job in an open field and a full rigging day between a house and a hydro line. Access, what is underneath, the drop zone and how the wood leaves the property drive the number far more than height does. On this sample site most residential removals are shown in a $650 to $3,200 band.

Quotes at Highbough Tree Care are free and are given after someone has stood under the tree. A price given over the phone from a photograph is a guess, and the gap between a guess and the invoice is where most complaints in this trade come from.

Usually because one of them is not carrying the same costs. Liability insurance, WorkSafeBC coverage, certified climbers and proper rigging gear are the expensive parts of a tree company, and a quote that undercuts everyone is often a quote without them. Ask all three companies for the same paperwork and compare the ones that produce it.

Ask for four things: proof of liability insurance, a WorkSafeBC clearance letter, the ISA certification number of the arborist who will be on site, and a written quote that names the work. All four take a company about five minutes to produce. A company that hesitates on any of them has told you something.

WorkSafeBC coverage matters because an uninsured worker injured on your property can become your problem. A clearance letter confirms the company is registered and in good standing, and it is free for them to request. Ask for a current one rather than a copy from last year.

A properly insured company carries liability cover for exactly that, which is why the certificate matters more than the price. Ask for the certificate itself, with the coverage amount visible, rather than a verbal assurance that they are insured.

Topping cuts the crown back to stubs that cannot seal over, so the tree answers with weak regrowth anchored in decaying wood. Ten years later the same tree is taller, heavier and considerably more likely to fail. Crown reduction achieves the height and weight reduction with cuts the tree can actually close.

Western red cedar across the east side of Vancouver Island has been dying back after a run of dry summers, and it appears first as browning and thinning at the branch tips and the top of the crown. A tree still at the flagging stage can recover if water reaches its root zone; one that has gone grey and brittle from the top down will not.

A pruning visit is typically a half day, a straightforward removal a half to full day, and a large rigged removal over a structure a full day or more. Stump grinding is usually an hour or two once the machine is on site.

Brush is chipped and taken away, and the trunk wood is removed unless you want it. Say so at the quote and it gets bucked to firewood length and stacked instead of loaded out, which costs less than having it hauled.

Winter is the busiest season here, because that is when the southeasters come up the Strait and bring trees down. Highbough Tree Care runs storm and hazard work outside normal hours all winter.