Tree Removal Service Areas Across the Cowichan Valley

What rules apply before any tree comes down in the district?

In areas with tree protection bylaws, you need a permit once a tree's trunk diameter crosses set limits, such as 20 or 30 cm in Duncan. Even then, once we confirm a hazard, the fee gets waived — you still pay a refundable security tied to the replacement tree. While North Cowichan has no tree protection bylaw, a Development Permit Area over natural or hazard-prone land can still restrict tree removal. We check your property's designation first.

We check every tree for five critical signs: a new lean, loose bark, fungal growth, cracked limbs and root heave in the soil. If your property sits near a watercourse, we also check the floodplain rule that protects the root systems along the bank.

Federal and provincial law protect active bird nests everywhere in the region — the nesting window runs late March through mid-August, and we check before we cut in that period no matter where the job is. Before we cut near an overhead or buried service line, we call BC Hydro first. Once a tree is down, we haul away the rounds, brush and chips as part of the job, or leave them behind as firewood or mulch, whichever you'd rather have.

Where a tree is sound enough to keep, we prune it to the ANSI A300 standard instead of taking it down, no matter which municipality you're in. Where houses, fences or power lines block a straight drop, we use rigging to take the tree down safely in sectioned pieces.