Tree Fox is an Adelaide-owned tree services crew working across metro Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills. We run the business the way we’d want one run on our own block: council-compliant from the first measurement, and quoted in writing before any cut.
The name is the brief: a fox is the clever local who knows the patch. Reads the land, moves through it without fuss, gets in and out cleanly. That’s the standard for tree work in Adelaide, and it’s the bar we hold.
Why Adelaide trees need Adelaide arborists
A national tree-services chain can take down a tree. So can the cheapest crew in the local Facebook group. Neither one knows the difference between a Burnside river red gum that’s regulated under SA’s Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act and a Hills stringybark that sits inside the Native Vegetation Act overlay. Get those wrong, and both the homeowner and the contractor can face the consequences. Unauthorised damage to a regulated tree can attract heavy penalties in South Australia.
Adelaide’s tree stock is its own world. The eastern suburbs run mature eucalypts on top of post-war European canopy — sugar gum, river red, lemon-scented, plus heritage planes, Liquidambars, claret ash. The coastal strip is Norfolk Island pines, Canary Island date palms and salt-loaded soils that change how root systems behave. The Hills is bushfire country with native vegetation overlays sitting on top of every council rule. And councils differ in how closely they watch tree work — Burnside, for example, announced a $10,000 fine against a contractor for an unauthorised removal in February 2025.
That’s the patch. Reading it correctly is the job.
What we do
Eleven services, one local crew, one quote process. The work breaks down into:
- Tree removal — full take-downs, including large eucalypts that need a crane lift or sectional dismantling.
- Tree lopping and pruning — height reduction, crown thinning, deadwooding, formative pruning. Plenty of “lopping” jobs are really about correcting earlier bad lopping.
- Stump grinding and removal — below-grade grinding for paving and turf, full extraction where structural work is going over the spot.
- Arborist reports — written reports to PlanSA standard for development applications, pre-purchase inspections, insurance and dispute matters.
- Storm damage and emergency — 24/7 callout for fallen trees, split limbs and powerline-adjacent work.
- Palm tree work, hedge trimming, land clearing, commercial maintenance — the rest of the typical tree-services scope.
Full list and detail on the services page.
What to check before you book any tree contractor
Whoever you book — us or anyone else — ask to see the paperwork before work starts. It takes a minute and it protects you.
- Arboriculture qualifications — Certificate III in Arboriculture (AQF Level 3) is the usual qualification for climbing arborists; the Diploma of Arboriculture (AQF Level 5) is the usual consulting qualification for written reports and council applications.
- Public liability insurance — ask for a current Certificate of Currency.
- Workers compensation — ask how the crew is covered.
- A written quote — scope, price and what’s included, before any cut.
We’re happy to answer all of these on the quote.
What to expect when you call us
The first 24 hours after you make contact tell you whether we’re worth booking. Here’s exactly how it runs.
- You call or send the quote form. A real person picks up between 7am and 6pm on weekdays, 8am to 4pm Saturdays. Outside those hours the form goes through to email and we read it first thing the next morning. Storm damage and active emergencies route to the after-hours line.
- We come back the same business day with either a fixed-price quote (when a photo is enough) or a time for a free on-site visit (when the tree warrants eyes on it). On-site quotes usually take 15 to 30 minutes — we measure the tree at 1m above ground, identify the species, photograph the surroundings and check the access.
- You get a written quote with a clear scope. Not “from $X” — a real number, GST-inclusive, valid for 30 days. If a development application is needed, we say so on the quote and lay out the cost separately.
- You decide. No pressure, no follow-up sales calls, no pretending the price was always going up. If the quote works, we book; if it doesn’t, we’d rather lose the job than do it at the wrong price.
- We turn up when we said we would. A 7am start means a 7am start. The chipper, the climbing kit and the tipper are on the same truck. Most residential jobs are wrapped in a single day; large-tree or crane work runs to two.
How we work
Three principles, no spin:
- Quote in writing before any cut. Every job, including emergencies once the immediate danger’s been made safe. No verbal “she’ll be right” pricing.
- Council compliance, handled. If your tree’s regulated under SA’s Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act, we lodge the development application paperwork as part of the job and prepare the supporting arborist report. The penalties for getting that wrong are heavy — we’re not chancing it on your block.
- Cleanup is part of the job, not an extra. Limbs chipped on-site, logs stacked or removed (your choice), lawn raked. We leave the site looking like we were never there.
Where we work
Greater Adelaide metro and the Adelaide Hills — from Gawler in the north to Sellicks Beach in the south, and east to the Mount Barker township. The five regional pages — Eastern Suburbs, Western Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, Southern Suburbs and Adelaide Hills — list every suburb we cover and the council notes specific to each.
Outside that footprint we don’t pretend we can be there in time. Send a photo through the quote form and we’ll either book you in or refer you to a closer crew.
Talk to us
Get a free quote → · Call Tree Fox · Contact page
If it’s an emergency — fallen tree, limb on the roof, anything that’s actively dangerous — go straight to the emergency page for the 24/7 line.