Reducing the crown of a Scyamore

[Kenzen]

A customer is wanting his sycamores topped, they are four boles close together and his concern about the trees is that in the last wind storm the tops moved a lot in the wind and they are concerned that the tree would fall. They asked that the trees be topped 30 feet down from the top (about 120 feet). I told them that a crown reduction this year and the next year would be good. So I have only done a type of crown reduction that involves the power lines. So advice on how to reduce/thin the crown so the possibility of falling is decrease.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Trees sway in the wind to dissipate the wind energy and minimize the strain on the root system. If a tree was a fixed object like a tall building, the foundation of the building is required to counteract wind forces. If a tree didn't sway, it's root system would have to be significantly larger. Reducing a tree from 120' to 90' isn't going to signifcantly reduce the wind loading on the canopy. You would need to reduce it to about the height of the surrounding buildings, so the wind is buffered more.

If the root system hasn't been compromised lately, then the likelihood of the tree falling over (toppling) is fairly low. You have a much higher likelihood of a branch or codominant stem breaking.

Thinning the canopy evenly by about 15% will reduce wind loading on the canopy. You can also reduce the overall size of the canopy by doing some proper drop crotch pruning.

If you want to top the tree, then you are at the wrong place, you need to go to www.Treehacks.com

 

[Kenzen]

I agree about topping the tree, and informed the customer why. The root system is not compromised and the plan included using crotch pruning as well as pruning. There are some included bark on some codominant stems which I will need to deal with. Thanks. Will consider the 15% thinning in the plan.