About Us

Here are some things we’d like to share about our business.

Brisbane Trees and Gardens is owned and operated by David and Fiona Taylor. David is a level 5 arborist (Dip Arb) with nearly two decades of experience in the tree services industry and Fiona has a degree in applied science, among other tertiary qualifications. We like the definition of arboriculture as helping trees and people live together. It explains our foci:

  • Tree Care
  • Safety
  • Environmental Principles
  • Tree Removal
  • IPM
  • Soil
  • Diagnostic testing
  • Character

Tree care: We favour planting and caring for natives. In our own yard you’ll find native fruit trees like Macadamia, Lillypilly, Fraser Island apple, and blue quandongs; along with half a dozen different species and cultivars of Grevillea. When assessing trees we give weight to natives as more significant to our urban landscape and seek to make them safe and healthy where possible.

Safety: Tree work is dangerous. Safe Work Australia publishes, “Guide to Managing Risks of Tree Trimming and Removal Work” which we study and adhere to. We don’t let our experience let us lapse into a false sense of security, rather we mitigate all risks we can through training, maintaining our equipment, and following safe procedures. All jobs we do have been assessed for safety by David who has been trained in Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) as the SWA document instructs, and our workers are equipped with proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for their work.
We encourage the public to not contract workers who can’t demonstrate they are qualified to assess trees for safety or are not trained and equipped to carry out works safely. Under documents you can download our insurance certificates, our Safe Work Method Statements, and our safety assessment form which we fill in for each tree removal.

David’s inspiration for business growth is Paul Stanley who was appointed the CEO of Alcoa in 1987. In his first speech to shareholders, Mr Stanley identified worker safety as the forward-focus of the faltering company. When bewildered shareholders asked about the company’s inventory, Stanley replied,

“I’m not certain you heard me. If you want to understand how Alcoa is doing, you need to look at our safety figures”

Paul Stanley, Alcoa. (1983).

His business succeeded in excelling in worker safety, and their success carried through to profits. So much so that business courses now teach Stanley’s philosophy describing his technique as forming a keystone habit. They surmise that concentrating on getting safety right meant other inefficiencies were discovered and dealt with while communication was mastered. David believes that by choosing safety as the business’s keystone habit it also shows staff they are valued, and his staff reciprocate with reliability and diligence.

Our safety on focus is exhibited in our development of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) for our equipment and work processes and Job Safety Analyses (JSA) for our work processes. We also comply with, “Guide to managing risks tree trimming removal” published by Safe Work Australia, a government agency concerned about the number of fatalities in the tree services industry. Additionally, our staff have a safety meeting at every single job where they discuss safety issues on a site level. This

  • Protects our staff from site-level hazards,
  • Protects your property as we identify potential hazards such as air-conditioner units susceptible to damage,
  • Helps our staff develop methodology to efficaciously carry out your work,
  • Gives our staff a sense of ownership of the job and their safety, and
  • Gives David feedback to improve efficiencies, safety, and equipment.

Environmental Principles: It’s not possible to have a focus on knowledge in business without caring for the environment considering the current state of the world. As Sir David Attenborough recently said, “If we don’t take action the collapse of our civilisation and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon”.

“Our favoured definition of an arborist is someone who helps trees and people live together”

David Taylor

Removing Trees: We don’t believe in removing trees without good reason. At the same time, few of our customers want trees removed without good reason so it’s not often we don’t agree with our customers wishes. Many of the trees we remove are to protect our customers from the potential failure of diseased trees. Others are removed to provide sunlight to solar energy panels giving our customers renewable energy.

Brisbane has so many environmental weed trees that if they were animals, it would be considered a plague. They displace our beautiful native trees that benefit our native fauna. We have witnessed Chinese elms taking over our local creek banks which are ecologically important areas for our wildlife, and cocos palms proliferating which are believed responsible for killing native flying foxes which are important pollinators of Australian native trees. African tulips are poisoning our native bees. We offer removal of environmental weeds at competitive prices and discounted replacement with native species.

Integrated Pest Management: As part of our commitment to balance the good we do against the harm we cause, we favour an IPM approach to dealing with tree pests. For example, we have developed an IPM strategy in the fight of poincianas against the poinciana looper that completely removes harmful chemicals from use in the equation. You’ll no longer have to wonder why there is Glad Wrap around the trunks of poincianas in Ascot and Clayfield.
Our IPM strategy is further evidenced in our focus on soil.

Soil: Soil is the environment from which trees harvest most of their water and mineral resources. By remediating soil we are able to ensure our customers have healthy trees and gardens. Most Brisbane trees are greatly assisted by replacing the lawn under the canopy with a generous layer of mulch. We can also amend soil lacking in nutrients with targeted blends of fertilizer, ensuring no waste of resources or unnecessary run-off.

Diagnostic testing: We believe in only asking our customers to spend money on work that is sure to help look after their trees and gardens. For that reason, we believe in conducting tests or assessments we are qualified to make before asking them to spend money on soil remediation, or tree removal or pruning. We have our own modest laboratory where we can test for deficiencies in soil macronutrients, measure soil organic matter, and examine possible evidence of pests and diseases with microscopes.

Additionally, we can field test for soil texture and compaction, tree identification and safety factors, and David has been trained in Visual Tree Assessment (VTA), the industry-accepted means of initial diagnosis of tree faults and pathogens.

Character: As Christians, we believe our faith in God should permeate everything we do. We hope that’s borne out in our work ethic, our customer service, our commitment to the safety of our staff, our love of natural science, and our care for Australia’s people, plants and animals by working with trees and the environment.