The residents of the Australian city of Melbourne

Private residences and companies with spacious grounds often also contain a number of trees and both need to be maintained for the health of the trees and for the visual appeal of their settings. Maintaining a large garden can be a time-consuming occupation and difficult to fit into the weekly schedule and using a professional tree service may be a necessity.

It is also important for the safety of those in the environment that trees are regularly trimmed or pruned to ensure there are no dead branches that could fall and cause injury or harbour diseases and insect infestations that could harm the tree's health.

A professional service will make sure that the work is carried out properly, whether it is tree removal, tree cutting and trimming or even felling and stump removal if it is needed.

When considering employing a tree service company the customer should expect a free quote together with an indication of when the work will be done.

Those employed should be properly trained to carry out the work safely and be issued with the correct protective gear such as hard hats, goggles, heavy duty gloves and boots, safety harness if needed as well as properly-maintained equipment to do the actual work of trimming and pruning.

It is important that the crew clears away all debris such as felled branches and leaves the ground clear and clean and many will use a chipping machine to break up the wood and a blower to clear the ground area of debris.

If the tree's owner does not want the chippings for path and border covering or the wood for perhaps a bonfire, the company should be willing to remove all debris.

Such companies also offer services such as hedge trimming, stump removal and ground tidying, which can be contracted as a once-only job, perhaps when a property has been left empty then sold and a general tidy up of the grounds is needed by the new occupants.

They may also be called in to clear ground before developers move onto the land to complete a building project or can be regularly contracted to maintain grounds for a large organisation to keep it looking tidy and cared for as well as safe for any visitors who may come to the premises.