Brisbane residents angered by overzealous Energex contractors lopping tree branches to protect powerlines have the backing of Brisbane City Council.

State laws dictate Energex can trim trees to protect powerline and prevent blackouts without council permission but Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the company and council had always had a memorandum of understanding.

Energex has now agreed to advise the council 12 months in advance of its programmed tree maintenance, as well as any unplanned emergent works, Cr Quirk said.

Residents aren't impressed with the work of Energex contractors. (9NEWS)

There's concern some trees won't survive the overzealous pruning. (9NEWS)

"We had a couple of examples that residents brought to us but as we looked into it we found there were more and more across the city, different suburbs," he said.

"There are some pretty bad examples where I don't think trees will survive ... they certainly have a total loss of amenity.

"It couldn’t go on the way it was."

In Chermside, 9NEWS found some trees had been removed entirely.

Two trees have been completely removed from this Chermside street. (9NEWS)

According to Energex, "the program includes the trimming of vegetation and, where required, the removal of vegetation that has the potential to contact the power network, causing safety and outage issues".