do you all top trees

[hunthawkdog]

In my area topping trees homeowners refer to as cutting it back untill it looks like a butt naked butcherd log and is supposed to come back full and beautiful. I end up removing them people say i just had it topped lat year and allof a sudden it died.sometimes they make it a few years but continually lose lots of sticks and this time of year look wretched. I tell them I dont top but Ill trim it or correct it or if its close to a house Ill tell em plant a new tree get it started and well take this one down . alot of the older tree cutters around here do reularly and people think it just has to be done . I dont do it becuse it seems obtrusive and after i tell people I dont like it they tell me to do what ever I thnk and I usually get the job anyway . way off base or not what do you guys think

 

[newsawtooth]

Sounds like you have your answer.

 

[djb6582]

From what youve described it sounds like pruning. Toping a tree is just that taking the top out of a trees Ive done this a time or two and looks hidious I try to turn stuff like that down because my rep is riding on my work. But its not that common here but from your description it almost sounds like the seasonal pruning of a crape merytal which looks like a log with a few leads left. if so youtube has some good videos

 

[fearofpavement]

The OP doesn't give enough info to elicit and answer. What kind of tree are you talking? Top a pine tree and it ain't coming back. You can cut a sweet gum off at the stump and it'll put out 53 sprouts just for spite. So I am not really sure what you are asking about....

 

[sawinredneck]

People around here just love getting Maples topped, they just love the look "Lion tails" give the tree! I got in an argument with a home owner I was helping with another project about this. She wants hers topped out because they look so good that way? I told her that was great but to plan on having them removed a few years later when they are dead! People just can't grasp that you can only remove so much before singing a death warrant on a tree!
OP, sounds like you are on track, keep doing what you are doing and you will have clients, not top then remove jobs!

 

[lostcoastland]

Grande Banzai

Basically it amazes me when a tree grows perfectly without pruning. Most cared for ornamental tree's have been cared for over the years and have had all kinds of STUFF done to them including topping cuts or heading cuts which are the IMPROPER way where a cut is made midway between potential reduction brances basically bare Usually this causes the peice to die or watersprout which is the this carpet of sprouts that fills in the tree later. it looks nice later on smaller trees that can fill in but basically turns the tree into a pollarded tree that needs to be maintained in this way.
The way to reduce a tree correctly is cutting tops down to lower branches about 1/3 the size with a sloping or flush cut for proper heal without decay, ( And without damaging the new branch top). This mainly keep sap flowing in the designated correctly pruned tips. Its all about keeping the sap flowing. The proper way to trim a tree occurs only under ideal conditions and with the puush of production often times there will be peeling(without a undercut), heading cuts ( sprouts), and many other attrocities that i haven't even seen yet!! Lmao.
Basically ####### trees grow so goddam fast that people get crazy and want to maintain the physical charecterstic of the tree and we all know thats not gonna happen. thats like saying hey kid your gettign too tall lets remove some bone fragments out of your shins. but we dont care and thats what we do. it's a control thing. People treat it like getting a hair cut. Which its totaly not thats more of clearcutting justification , most of these people have no relationship with trees other than there weeds. Just if you live in a small crowded area like LA with alot of houses you plant small trees if you lve in the forest it takes care of itself, besides basically agricultural clearing and logging, utility. alot of people just dont want to remove trees but they dont want them near there stuff and think there messy. they just dont know what to do but "cut it back". as long as the tree doesnt die thats fine there nothing more justifying than seeing those trees die and saying HA! told ya! Even if one tree dies. i think more trees should die so people will look at their pruning practices,.jk.. mostly the homeowners..we arborist know whats up but need the money.. The trouble is they grow back with avengance and it becomes GRANDE BANZAI. hack a tree and a giant ball of growth and it looks good later but it takes along time and your basically undermining the whole naturalness of the tree, it's pathetic. However there is the practice of crown restoration which is the practice of removing weakly attached water sprouts ,ect to get a healthy shapped structual tree that can grow away in natural fashion requiring less pruning year by year but theres no gaurentees and like i said..its amazing trees grow perfect when we try so hard and nature just does it. the secret is layback bud people are crazy. just try to keep your reservation for some creative crown reductions when you get the chance to poss fix some trees but some other hacker could always come along and ruin your and the trees hard work in about two seconds and be totally proud about it.starting the whole process over..Se La Vie!

 

[PremiereTreeNet]

Topping is bad news for trees. It sounds like that's the consensus on this thread, but I couldn't resist putting in my two cents. Topping removes far too many leaves, which are how a tree gets sunlight. The leaves that are left are very close to the tree which means that, more often than not, they cannot get as much sunlight as they need. Topping kills trees and clients who request it should have this gently explained to them. A lot of times it's just that they don't realize how bad it is for the tree. I would simply suggest a pruning or a removal instead. If they still want it topped, let them know that it could result in a dead tree. I can definitely understand not wanting your reputation tarnished though. If that's the case, I think refusing the job isn't out of line.

 

[Carburetorless]

Top a pine tree and it ain't coming back.

Yes it will. I took down a pine today that has been topped several times in it's lifespan. Topped right out in the very top, and cut back too from the ground up.

When I got to the top I found two large branch collars that had reformed from the previous topping, now they were 10" in diameter and doing really well, about 35 or 40 feet up, new growth 20 to 25 feet growing right out of the nest created from the toppings.

 

[capetrees]

Different trees weather the cuts better than some. Top a white pine and it will die. Top a black pine and it does very well to the point I go back every few years to re-top the new growth. I don't top maples or locsts but i will top an oak. Around here, the oaks are strong enough to come back strong.

Then again there's pollarding. Whole different thing.

 

[Carburetorless]

Different trees weather the cuts better than some. Top a white pine and it will die.

The tree I cut today was a White Pine. I think it may have had a natural fork in the top, that might have made a difference, but I'm not sure if it would. It originally came from a tree farm, and was a ball Christmas tree that got transplanted.

[/QUOTE]Top a black pine and it does very well to the point I go back every few years to re-top the new growth. I don't top maples or locsts but i will top an oak. Around here, the oaks are strong enough to come back strong.

Then again there's pollarding. Whole different thing.[/QUOTE]

"pollarding"? I'm not familiar with that term; What does it mean?

 

[capetrees]

Pollarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Nailsbeats]

It can be done and serve it's purpose if cut back to leaders that continue to feed the stem. It also depends on the age/condition of the tree at hand and the height at which you cut. Lower cutting in an old tree will usually finnish it off, which is what most people seem to want. I don't turn down the job, just try to educate the customer and then make the best of it.

 

[Carburetorless]

Pollarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

O.K.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of that.

I wouldn't want to do it to a healthy tree, but if one has already been done that way it becomes a necessity to keep up with it.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Don't top trees. Period. If there is some reason that a tree needs to be topped, then it should be removed. Oak trees, no matter where they are, don't recover well. No tree recovers "well" from a topping. Some do better than others, but they all suffer and none of them do "well". You can do your best to restore it over time, but most of the time the effort is pointless, tree will never be the same.

 

[ClimbMIT]

Don't top trees. Period. If there is some reason that a tree needs to be topped, then it should be removed. Oak trees, no matter where they are, don't recover well. No tree recovers "well" from a topping. Some do better than others, but they all suffer and none of them do "well". You can do your best to restore it over time, but most of the time the effort is pointless, tree will never be the same.

I agree with you. Ask the customer why they want the tree topped? Usually they tell me that it's getting to tall and they don't want to fall and hit their house or other structure. That's when I explain how topping was excepted practice many years ago and is no longer recommended. It makes the tree weaker, top heavy, vulnerable to disease and insects, and is freagin ugly! Don't

 

[ClimbMIT]

I started to say don't get me wrong I have done it before. An accepted practice here is pollarding or topping crepe myrtles as well. Every job I do is left will be remembered by neighbors and family. Word of mouth goes a long way, especially when it's negative.

 

[Carburetorless]

I agree with you. Ask the customer why they want the tree topped? Usually they tell me that it's getting to tall and they don't want to fall and hit their house or other structure. That's when I explain how topping was excepted practice many years ago and is no longer recommended. It makes the tree weaker, top heavy, vulnerable to disease and insects, and is freagin ugly! Don't

What if the tree has been topped before? Do you not top it again because it goes against the rules of pruning, or do you make the customer happy, or let your competition have the job?

 

[capetrees]

What if the tree has been topped before? Do you not top it again because it goes against the rules of pruning, or do you make the customer happy, or let your competition have the job?

Seems like most in here would rather stand on their ethics of pruning and go home hungry rather tha just do what the custommer asks. Yes, you're right, the next guy will do it instead. Of course you want to inform the homeowner of what may happen if it's topped but 9 times out of ten they say they don't care. I've topped dozens, maybe hundreds of trees around my area and when people pay huge money for water views and the tree is in the way, top it.

 

[ClimbMIT]

What if the tree has been topped before? Do you not top it again because it goes against the rules of pruning, or do you make the customer happy, or let your competition have the job?

That's a good question. Depends on the type of tree. Oak no! Pine no., Cherry Laurel, Crepe Myrtle, or small tree that is being used as a hedge yes. I recommend that it should be taken down and another tree planted if it looks really bad or will hurt the tree like a Live Oak. If it looks healthy then I will recommend that it should have a crown reduction and restoration. I stand behind what I do I also do Landscaping so if I lose a job or two because I won't do something that could come back in bite me in the #ss then so be it. I rather hold a high standard because I know it always comes back to benefit me.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Seems like most in here would rather stand on their ethics of pruning and go home hungry rather tha just do what the custommer asks. Yes, you're right, the next guy will do it instead. Of course you want to inform the homeowner of what may happen if it's topped but 9 times out of ten they say they don't care. I've topped dozens, maybe hundreds of trees around my area and when people pay huge money for water views and the tree is in the way, top it.

Your right, I will go hungry before I top a tree. If I am broke, and need to resort to that type of work, then I need to get into something else. Ya don't top trees. I am not going to go into all the details, don't need to, it has already been done, in depth, thousands of times, Google it. I understand that there may be a legit reason, from time to time, but they are far and few between. No matter the sit, there is always another option, It is up to you , as a professional Arborist to inform the client on proper Arboriculture.Most of the time, with the proper education, they will go with what ever you suggest, if they insist, after getting the right info, then that's when I fire my client. I will not do that work. If they want a view, remove the trees and plant grass. Several times I have been on this type of bid, when I tell them no, that rattles them, I tell them they need a hacker and give them suggestions on who to call, ya know the guys who do it all the time, they usually call me back after meeting the bubbas and go with the right way instead.