Tree removal in Miramar: good to know
Miramar is the mostly flat middle of the peninsula, with hills all the way round. That flat used to be water: Coutts Crawford, the first European settler, drained a big lagoon called Burnham Water, and houses, streets, parks and shops now cover its bed. Go back further and the whole peninsula was an island, Te Motu Kairangi, until the Haowhenua earthquake of around 1460 AD is said to have raised the land and joined it to the mainland.
For a tree job, the difference is access. On the flat, an arborist can often bring a truck and chipper close to the tree. On the hill sections around the rim, gear may be carried in by hand and the tree taken down in sections, which takes longer and is worth seeing in the quote.
Tree removal in Miramar: what's local
Two winds, not one
The peninsula catches Wellington's prevailing northwest wind and the southerly too. A tree that's sheltered from one can take the other side-on. Next door at the airport on the Rongotai isthmus, NIWA counts gusts over 96 km/hr on an average of 24 days a year.
Pines and regenerating bush
Beyond the gardens, the peninsula has regenerating native bush, pine forest and leftover farmland. If big pines or bush stand over your back fence, check whose land they're on first: public trees are usually for the council to manage, not neighbours.
Ground that was once a lagoon
If a large tree on the flat begins to lean or the soil heaves around its base after a long wet spell, keep people out from under it and have an arborist look at the roots before the next blow.
Postcode and ward
Miramar is 6022, in Wellington City Council's Motukairangi/Eastern General Ward. Holy Cross School on Athens Street and Miramar North School on Weka Street are both here.
Storm damage and fallen trees in Miramar
Look from a distance
Check for split forks, hanging branches and a lifted root plate without walking under the tree. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 111.
Deal with the lines first
Treat any line on the ground as live and stay 10 metres back. Branches in Wellington Electricity's network lines go to its emergency line.
Photograph, then ring your insurer
Take photos before anything is moved. Damage a fallen tree does to the house or fence is generally covered, along with removing the part of the tree that caused it, but the rest of the tree usually isn't.
Check with the council before removal
A damaged tree can still be protected. Ask Wellington City Council before the rest of it comes out, and see our after a storm guide for the order of things.
Council tree rules in Miramar
We weren't able to read Wellington City Council's tree pages, so we won't spell out what its District Plan says about Miramar trees. Give the council your address and ask whether the tree is listed, and whether anything else on your title protects it. The Wellington permit page has a short list of questions to take into that call.
Hiring an arborist in Miramar
We'd judge it by which wind it faces. A big tree on the rim that takes the southerly full-on gets looked at before winter, and anything near a line goes to Wellington Electricity first. Then we'd get the council's answer in writing and ask arborists to quote with the access plan spelled out.