Topping Trees is
Awful
It's Bad News
- It's very irresponsible - Don't do it !
There are some tree service companies that promote and
practice this drastic form of "pruning." Apparently, a short tree is thought
to be safer and healthier than a tall tree regardless of how the result is
attained. In fact, topping a tree in this manner is one of the worst things
man can do to trees. A professional, well informed and responsible tree
service should advise his customer of the hazards of Tree Topping and refuse
to be part of this kind of a butchery practice. It should not be just for the
money thing or the excuse, the customer wanted me to do it. That is just
plain ignorance and totally unprofessional.
Professional arborists have the ability to make the
tree look more attractive, safer, and even smaller, with appropriate effective
pruning. The principles of proper pruning are to restrict growth in one area
and encourage it in others, as well as to remove damaged or dead limbs.
Pruning encourages growth, improves flower and fruit production, improves
plant health, repairs damage and helps add aesthetic appeal to a tree.
See link below, "How To Prune Trees"
If the height of a tree has to be reduced because of
storm damage or interference with electrical wires, it can be correctly done
by a method called crown reduction or drop crotch pruning. The procedure
involves the removal of a main leader or main branch at the point of
attachment of a lateral branch. The final cut should be parallel to the
lateral branch bark ridge without cutting into the bark ridge. The lateral
branch should be at least one-third the size of the branch or leader that is
being removed.
Topping is an unacceptable pruning practice that can
lead to stress, decay, root rot and hazardous conditions in trees. Even so,
hundreds of trees are topped, headed, or rounded over every year in the
Texas Hill Country because a homeowner may feel that a tree has become too
large. Topping occurs when tree branches are cut back leaving stubs or
lateral branches that are not large enough to assume normal growth. Crown
reduction by topping does not work, and can injure a tree in several ways.
Educating the customer is when the professional tree service really earns
his money.
Topping reduces the leaf-bearing crown of a tree by 50-100%,
thereby removing most or all of the food-producing capabilities it may have.
New buds become active and rapidly growing shoots develop at each cut to
make up for the sudden loss of leaves. This will stress the tree by
depleting any stored food reserves and making it vulnerable to insect and
disease attacks. The sudden exposure of the inner branches and trunk to high
levels of sunlight can also lead to injury of the wood tissues. Proper
pruning would remove no more than 25-30% of the leaf-bearing crown.
Large wounds take longer to close over, and stubs will decay
when a topping cut is made. Proper pruning cuts are made just beyond the
branch collar near the branch's point of attachment. Such pruning cuts are
usually smaller and less numerous, and results in more rapid wound closure
by callus tissue so that the bark's continuity is eventually re-established.
When a branch is correctly pruned at its point of attachment to the trunk
just outside of the branch collar and the branch bark ridge, internal decay
is usually stopped from progressing into the trunk by a protective chemical
barrier inside the collar. Branch stubs produced by topping harbor decay
fungi which eventually break down the barrier in the collar and then proceed
into the trunk. Whenever a cut is made in the main leader by topping, there
is nothing to prevent decay from developing in the trunk. The tree may be
structurally weakened and its useful life span reduced.
The shoots that develop below a topping are only weakly
attached to the outermost wood layers, unlike normal branches that are
anchored deeper in the wood tissues. These shoots, which can grow 10-20 feet
per year, are much more subject to breaking. The tree becomes a hazard and a
potential liability to the tree's owner. Although hazardous conditions could
take some time to develop, the owner may still be held liable even years
after the topping occurred. The tree service
company should consider serious legal council as well, as they too can also
be held liable for any and all damages to property or to humans.
Topped trees often require pruning
again in only a few years to remove shoots and decayed areas. The trees
appear disfigured and lose their natural graceful form. Properly pruned and
maintained trees leave little or no indication that pruning even occurred,
and can add 10-20% to property values.
If a tree's crown must be reduced in size or thinned,
proper pruning cuts will avoid the problems mentioned above. Never should
more than 1/3 of the crown be removed. Selected branches should be removed
back to their point of attachment, or to a lateral branch that is at least
1/3 the diameter of the branch being removed without leaving stubs.
Responsible tree professionals and arborists must
demonstrate knowledge of proper tree care practices and carry a minimum
amount of liability insurance. Always ask for the tree expert, or arborist
for references, and proof of current insurance. A written contract of
work to be performed, as well as a receipt.
See below: " How To Hire a Tree Service."
In summary of
the adverse effects of topping are:
