Evergreen Arborist
TREE TOPPING SHOULD BE BANNED!
The tree toppers have already been out in force in spite of the wet winter. This annual season arrives to the chagrin of professional arborists and tree service companies that discourage such practices.
Who does it? Everyone from homeowners to the individuals or companies that offer “tree topping” services. Unfortunately, they do not understand the impacts of such practices on the long term health, safety and appearance of trees.
What is topping?
It is the removal of a major portion of a deciduous tree’s leaf bearing twigs and branches or the upper portion of a conifer tree. A typical result is an ornamental tree with short, unattractive stubs. The conifer will look like its head was chopped off.
Topping is often done to reduce the size of a tree or to remove a perceived hazard. Too often, just the opposite will result.
How do topped trees respond?
Heavy pruning or topping stimulates sprouting as a deciduous tree enters a survival mode to re-establish its lost food manufacturing plant fast as possible.
Some common species such as flowering plums produce massive numbers of sprouts. However, they will grow at a much faster rate than normal – up to six feet or more a year.
Such rapid growth will return a tree to its original size within just a few years. Then a homeowner or landscaper is faced with pruning a massive number of new sprouts rather than thinning naturally formed branches.
Conifers, such as large fir and cedar trees, always want to form a top. When removed, the branches closest to a cut or broken-off top will turn upward. Usually one or two tops will eventually dominate to form a single or multiple tops.
Unfortunately, these new tops are weakly connected. As they become taller and heavier, they are more susceptible to breakage than the natural top that was originally formed. This means a topped conifer is actually more hazardous than one that has not been cut.
Topping stresses trees
The loss of its food processing system will severely stress a tree. Some may die within a few years because of a lack of food reserves. Others may no longer be able to fend off insects that are attracted to weakened trees.
As the weakly attached new sprouts increase in size and weight, the decaying wood around them makes them highly subject to breakage during severe storms or heavy snows.
Tree topping is ugly!
Trees form a wide variety of branching structures that are natural and pleasing to the eye. Topping destroys that natural form.
The unsightliness is very noticeable during the long season when the leaves are absent. I have heard many comments about a neighbor’s “butchered” trees or the skeletal remains of a treescape in a mall parking lot. Malformed trees detract from the value of a landscape and can negatively impact the appearance of an entire neighborhood.
Topping is expensive
Depending upon one’s objectives, heavily pruned ornamental trees may require trimming every year or every few years. Each time a tree is heavily pruned, it repeats the process of prolific sprouting and stressing the tree. Repeated prunings cost dollars and may continue until either the tree or a homeowner gives up.
Proper tree pruning
The best job of pruning an ornamental tree is one where the tree looks as if very little has been done to it.
Such a result is accomplished by careful selection of branches that are crossing, pointing inward, dead or that cause the shape of a tree to be out of balance. The offending branches are then removed at a point where they join a larger branch or the trunk.
Such thinning retains a tree’s natural shape, addresses most reasons for wanting a tree pruned, avoids stimulating massive sprouting and minimizes any stress.
Conifer trees should never be topped if possible. A better option may be to remove an objectionable tree and replace it with a more appropriate one.
The bottom line is that topping or aggressive pruning should be discouraged. Usually the outcome is not what a homeowner or property manager had envisioned.
Dennis Tompkins is a Certified Arborist, WSU Master Gardener and Urban Forester from the Bonney Lake-Sumner area. He provides small tree pruning, pest diagnosis, hazardous tree evaluations, tree appraisals and other services for homeowners. Questions can be directed to him at 253 863-7469 or email at dlt@blarg.net.