Mario you are confusing reduction with topping. Do you have the ANSI Pruning standards or the isa bmp's to refer to? I reduce leyland cypress all the time, using 6" cuts sometimes but always at the best location (buds or laterals) and angle possible for the tree.
I'll reduce pines when I have to but I would rather window them.
No...
No confusion. No way that "crown reduction" or any other word describes it, nor would any other technique have worked. Other than removing the trees, and if the homeowners did remove the row of small ponderosas for a view, I wouldn't blame them.
They already had "window" pruning like you mentioned in Maine, but they agreed it was not good here. The trees just started to block out the valley, and to let them grow upward for "windows" would have allowed them to block out the mountains.
IT'S NOT IDENTICAL, BUT CLOSE. I'LL ATTACH AN IMAGE OF THE KIND OF MOUNTAINS WE HAVE HERE, TO SHOW WHAT WOULD GET BLOCKED TO ALLOW GROWTH FOR A WINDOW.
am truly sorry for the pines that you have topped,,,they will never live to their full potential,,,topping kills,,,for many reasons
They will do fine. In fact, there are pines that orientals have topped to train and kept under good care for hundreds of years. In fact, the shorter yearly pruned trees won't be up in the wind, and in this case, could out-live most local Ponderosa pines if maintained long enough.
I'm not sure if you are getting confused about this, thinking that some of us can't provide many styles of pruning and gardens for people.
Arborists who "never top" are crippled in the skills or services. One or the other - provided they don't "believe" it's a reasonable option in a percentage of cases.
Just so happens, I went outside tonight and topped a shore pine. I've been waiting for a month. It was given to me free and I transplanted it a couple of months ago.
I was planning to cut the main stem, to train it into what people mistakenly call "oriental" pruning sometimes. Brokers are coming to see our house tomorrow since its on the market, so as I was fine-tuning pruning, I clipped the 1.5" stem so the whorl of limbs will produce a round crown.
The reason I can do this, is I'm not crippled in my ability to perform it. Therefore, I can train big trees WITHOUT ever topping, and also do custom pruning WITH topping on small trees, providing a more rounded and complete range of services.