The wind picks up on a Tuesday night, and by midnight it’s a different kind of storm. By morning, trees are down across the Ranges and the leafy inner east, and every homeowner with a limb on a roof is searching for someone to call.
It has happened before. In June 2021 a south-easterly storm brought winds of up to 100 km/h to the Yarra Ranges. The SES took nearly 4,400 calls across Victoria, including more than 650 in the Yarra Ranges, and over 10,000 homes lost power, with Mount Dandenong, Kalorama, Healesville, Lilydale, Mooroolbark and Croydon among the areas affected, according to the Star Mail.
After a night like that, every arborist in the area is booked out within hours. The homeowner who can’t get through to the first name they try moves down the list, and what decides the order is what they read about each of you.
Melbourne homeowners choose a tree service from Google, often in a hurry after a storm. The Review Accelerator asks every customer for a Google review when the job is done, follows up once, and (with the reply add-on) answers every review, so the reputation you’ve earned shows up before the next storm does.
Melbourne's tree rules change with the council, and customers notice who knows them
Victoria doesn’t have one set of rules for trees on private land. Each council’s planning scheme and local laws differ, which is why homeowners get conflicting advice from neighbours. Planning schemes can protect trees through overlays such as the Vegetation Protection Overlay, Significant Landscape Overlay and Heritage Overlay, and where one applies you generally need a permit to remove or lop the tree unless an exemption applies. Some councils add local laws on top: Boroondara’s Tree Protection Local Law needs a permit to remove or prune protected canopy trees, for example, and Frankston protects trees with a trunk circumference over 100 cm. It’s general information, not legal advice.
The arborist who can say “here’s what your council requires, and here’s what we’ll do about it” earns a particular kind of trust. You can’t tell anyone what to write, and we never would. What you can do is make sure every one of those customers is asked, and every review gets a considered reply.
Source for the rules: Law Reform Victoria: planning law and trees on private land.
Picture the week after the storm
The storm jobs are finally done. You’re back home with your feet up, and you open Google. There are new reviews from people you looked after in the middle of the chaos, with replies under them that sound like you. You didn’t spend a dollar. You didn’t chase anyone. And the phone is still ringing.
The Review Accelerator starts with a 14-day free trial. Your card isn’t charged for the plan until day 15, and after that it’s $297 a month (AUD) with no lock-in contract. Prefer to see it work first? The free 14-Day Challenge asks your recent Melbourne customers for reviews on your behalf, with no card required.
How it works, in four lines
- We write your review message with you and check it before anything is sent.
- You close the job, or upload past customers, and each one gets a friendly text or email with your Google review link.
- One gentle reminder, then we stop. Everyone gets the same request, whatever they thought of the job.
- Reviews build on your profile, and with the optional reply add-on each one gets answered.
The full walkthrough, with reply templates for tree work, is on our Google reviews for arborists page.
P.S. Not sure how your profile compares with the Melbourne arborists ranking near you? The free Local Trust Score checks it in a couple of minutes, using public information only.
Questions Melbourne arborists ask
How many Google reviews does a Melbourne arborist need?
Google doesn’t publish a target. What matters is how you compare with the arborists near you and how recent your reviews are. The free Local Trust Score compares your public Google profile with others ranking around you.
Does it cover the Dandenong and Yarra Ranges as well as the suburbs?
Yes. Review requests go to your customers wherever the job was, and your Google profile can list the suburbs and Ranges towns you serve as its service area.
Can I ask customers for a review straight after a storm job?
Yes. Google allows asking customers for reviews. The Review Accelerator sends the request once the job is closed, with one gentle follow-up a few days later.
Will it stop unhappy customers from reviewing me?
No. Every customer gets your Google link whatever their experience, because filtering who can review you (review gating) is against Google’s policies.
Sources
- Star Mail: storm rages in the Ranges
- Law Reform Victoria: planning law and trees on private land
- Google Business Profile Help: How to improve your local ranking on Google
- Google Business Profile Help: Get reviews and reply to them
- BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults)