Don’t Top Trees!

Is your tree too tall or too big for your yard?  Topping is a high maintenance, short-term answer.  Topping has to be re-done every 3-4 years, and the regrowth is weakly attached.  It introduces rot in the main stems, which also makes for a weaker tree.

Topping creates a hazardous tree in four ways:

IT ROTS. Topping opens the tree up to an invasion of rotting organisms.  A tree can defend itself from rot when side branches are removed, but it has a hard time walling off the pervasive rot to which a topping cut subjects it to.  Rotted individual limbs- or the entire tree- may fail as a result, often years later.

IT STARVES. Very simply, a tree’s leaves manufacture its food.  Repeated removal of the tree’s leaves- its food source- literally starves the tree.  This makes it susceptible to secondary diseases such as root rot- a common cause of failing trees.

WEAK LIMBS. New limbs made from the sucker or shoot re-growth are weakly attached and break easily in wind or snow storms- even many years later when they are large and heavy.  A re-grown limb never has the structural integrity of the original.

INCREASED WIND RESISTANCE. The thick re-growth of sucker or sprouts resulting from topping make the tree top-heavy and more likely to catch the wind.  This increases the chance of blow-down in a storm.  Selectively thinned trees allow the wind to pass through the branches.  It’s called “taking the sail out” of a tree.

Unfortunately, the topping process is often self-defeating. Ugly, bushy, weakly attached limbs usually grow back higher than the original branches.

Proper pruning can remove excessive growth without the problems topping creates.

The appearance of a properly pruned tree is like a good haircut: hardly noticeable at first glance.

This is a list of general tree trimming guidelines:

Never remove more than ¼ of a tree’s crown in a season.

Where possible, try to encourage side branches that form angles that are ⅓ off vertical (10:00 or 2:00 positions).

For most species, the tree should have a single trunk.

Ideally, main side branches should be at least ⅓ smaller than the diameter of the trunk.

If removal of a main branch is necessary, cut it back to where it is attached to another large branch or the trunk. Do not truncate or leave a stub.

For most deciduous (broadleaf) trees, don’t prune up from the bottom any more than ⅓ of the tree’s total height.

Call 573-789-2556, or email us today for a free consultation on your specific questions about topping trees.

 “We envision a world where trees and forests are abundant, healthy, and sustainable, and highly valued by all people.”