Kelmscott in brief
Kelmscott is one of the older parts of the City of Armadale and has two distinct sides. West of Albany Highway, the suburb runs down toward the Canning River, with flatter streets, river flats and older homes on generous blocks. East of the highway, it climbs onto the Darling Scarp, where streets wind uphill and many homes sit among remnant bush.
Both sides have a lot of mature trees, and that is what shapes tree work here. Unlike the newer estates further west, where most trees were planted in the last twenty years, Kelmscott has big, old trees that were here long before the houses.
The scarp side
On the hills side of Kelmscott, the trees that bring calls are usually native hardwoods: marri, jarrah and flooded gum, along with sheoaks and banksias in the understorey. Some are very large. Many lean out over a driveway or the house, because that is the direction the light came from when the block was cleared.
These are demanding jobs. The timber is dense and heavy. The block often slopes, sometimes steeply, so wood has to be lowered under control and moved uphill to the road. Access for a chipper or a stump grinder can be limited to a narrow driveway. And a lot of these properties are mapped as bushfire prone, which brings its own rules about what can be cleared around the house; our bushfire tree clearing guide sets them out.
On slopes, grinding a stump is often better than digging it out, because the roots left in the ground keep holding the soil.
The river side
Toward the Canning, the ground is flatter and the soil is deeper loam and alluvial sand. Trees here grow large and quickly where there is water underneath: flooded gums, paperbarks and planted exotics such as jacarandas and lemon-scented gums. Older homes on bigger blocks often have fruit trees, a liquidambar or a Cape lilac that has been there for decades.
Waterlogged ground in winter can loosen root plates, so a large tree that starts to lean after a run of wet weather should be looked at quickly.
Common jobs in Kelmscott
- Big gum limbs over roofs and driveways, either removed or reduced back to sound wood
- Dead or declining marri and jarrah taken down in sections
- Crown lifting and clearing around the house before fire season
- Stump grinding after old removals, especially on lawns and garden beds
- Palm cleaning on tall fan palms in the older streets
- Bamboo screens that have spread from a boundary planting
Council and approvals
Kelmscott is in the City of Armadale. Street trees on the verge are the City's responsibility, so report problems with them rather than having them cut privately. If a tree on your land might be protected by a planning condition or heritage listing, or if you are clearing native vegetation on a large lot, check with the City before work starts.
The City also issues annual fire hazard and firebreak requirements for its district. Hills properties in Kelmscott should check the current notice well before summer.
Getting a quote in Kelmscott
Call (08) 7666 1429, seven days from 6am to 8pm, or use the form below. Tell us the street, whether the tree is on the hills side or the flats, roughly how tall it is against the house, and how steep the access is. A photo of the whole tree and one of the driveway help.
For a sense of price before anyone comes out, the cost guide has 2026 planning bands. The tree removal page explains how sectional removals work.