Some of the city's Norfolk pine trees are coning up in preparation for a bit of a mating season, but arborist Phillip Lodge says there's little danger from the large soccer ball sized cones growing on some city trees.

'The cones do not fall, usually they disintegrate and break up,” says Phillip, who works for Tauranga City Council.

Big cones are appearing on Norfolk pine trees.

'But with all things with trees anything has the potential to snap off and fall down, whether it's a branch, a cone or the whole tree.”

Tauranga City Council has just completed a survey of all the city Norfolk pines, partly in recognition that they are having a ‘mast' year.

'This year has been a bit of a considerable year with cone production. It's not every year that happens but this year seems to have quite a few things that have aligned to make it a big cone bearing year.

'The cones production usually coincides with a high production of male flowers, which we have had this year.”

Some of the trees identified as needing work were dealt to last week and others are receiving attention this week, says Phillip.

High priority trees include those along Marine Parade and Pilot Bay.

'The ones at Marine Parade would obviously be a higher priority for us location wise and then the amount they get underneath; barbecues, street furniture and other stuff where people actually gather.

'So they become bumped right up the top of the list. We have hundreds of sites like that around the city and they take priority. The tree Churchill road is not really deemed a high priority situation. With that in mind it doesn't remove it from any normal inspection.”

It's a privately planted tree, but it's on the road reserve and council arborists would arrange remedial pruning in an emergency.

The Marine Parade pines still struggling to survive on marine parade are not expected to produce cones.

'With the issues they have had they are not bearing cones this year they have enough on their plate.”