Modewarre
Tree removal in Modewarre
Tree removal, stump grinding and emergency work in Modewarre, where memorial trees carry heritage controls and old elms sucker from the roots.
Tree work in Modewarre
A memorial cypress avenue and elms that sucker
The memorial avenue at Modewarre is the only surviving intact Avenue of Honour in the Surf Coast Shire, according to the shire's heritage study. That study, from 2008, records elms planted on 28 June 1918 and replaced with the existing 32 cypress trees in the c.1940s, except for one surviving elm dedicated to Albert Jacka. Heritage place HO116 in the Surf Coast Heritage Overlay covers the avenue, and the schedule records that tree controls apply, so removing, destroying or lopping any of its trees needs a planning permit from Surf Coast Shire.
The original elms showed how the species behaves. When the ground around them was cultivated for weed control and as a fire break, the trees sent up suckers, and many more elms grew instead of a single avenue. An elm on a private block does the same when its roots are cut, ground or dug through, so taking one out or grinding its stump comes with follow-up work on the shoots that come up across the lawn.
Sources: Modewarre Avenue of Honour, Victorian Heritage Database (retrieved 15/10/2026); Schedule to the Heritage Overlay, Surf Coast Planning Scheme (retrieved 15/10/2026); Geelong massive power outage as winds batter city (October 2016), Geelong Advertiser (retrieved 15/10/2026)
Services in Modewarre
Listed trees, elm stumps and wind damage
Tree removal
Trees on a heritage-listed place checked against the overlay's tree controls before any removal is quoted.
Stump grinding
Elm stumps ground out, then the suckers that rise from the old roots treated across the yard.
Emergency tree removal
Limbs and whole trees brought down in strong winds cut up and cleared off the house, the sheds and the driveway.
What it costs: tree removal cost, stump grinding cost
Compared: removal, lopping or pruning, stump grinding or stump removal, council tree rules compared
How it works
From the first call to a clear garden
Nothing happens without a written quote you have agreed to.
Tell us about the tree
Call or send the form with the tree and what is worrying you.
A contractor comes to see it
A local tree contractor looks at the tree, the access and whatever sits underneath it, because a quote off a photo misses the things that change the job.
A written quote
The quote sets out the scope, what happens to the timber and the stump, and the date. It is the contractor's quote, and nothing starts until you accept it.
The work and the clean up
On the day the tree is dealt with as quoted, the green waste leaves on the truck and the lawn is raked.
Modewarre questions
The Memorial Hall oak and a windy October
Is the old oak at the Memorial Hall protected as well?
It is. Heritage place HO118 is the Modewarre Memorial Hall, including mature oak tree and Honour Boards, and the oak falls under tree controls too. Lopping or felling it is a planning permit matter, and pruning or any work near its roots is planned to keep the oak healthy rather than to reshape it.
When should a big tree near the house be looked at?
In calm weather, well before it is tested. A Geelong Advertiser report on the strong winds of 9 October 2016 named Modewarre, with 129 homes without power, as one of the worst hit places that afternoon. A cracked limb found on a still day can be booked in; the same limb after a storm is urgent make safe work.
