Did they ruin my tuliptree?

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nyhomeowner

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Messages
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Location
New York
Hi - we hired a company to prune a large tuliptree so it would be less prone to losing branches in storms etc.

This is the before and after.... did they destroy it? I don't even know what to think. It was a beautiful tree. There's not much left. The tree is basically gone.

Added a pic of the final "product".
 

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Welcome aboard. Aesthetically, I would really like it to stay as it was in the middle. I don't have the expertise to give a scientific explanation for this. I just don't like to overdo the pruning. It's a really beautiful tree, take care of it!
 
doesnt look good honestly. it looks like it was "topped" at some point. either before and they just carried on with it, or they did. it's an idiotic practice by tree services - any self respecting arborist wouldn't do it. sorry to say but that's what it is...
 
doesnt look good honestly. it looks like it was "topped" at some point. either before and they just carried on with it, or they did. it's an idiotic practice by tree services - any self respecting arborist wouldn't do it. sorry to say but that's what it is...
thank you. this is helpful. I wish we could go back and do this over again. :( the tree must be at least 80 years old, if not older.... the guy claims it will look good next summer!? will it ever be back to normal? I really didn't know who to hire and what to look for when hiring someone.
 
Consult with a licensed arborist, being a tulip it will recover. However it's stressed and vulnerable.
thank you. I appreciate your response. we will find one. the whole point of pruning it was to make the tree "safer" after all these storms and then this happened. I wish I came to this forum before doing anything!
 
Unfortunately the tree is now less safe and more prone to future branch failure.
I cannot believe this happened. the whole point of pruning it was to make this tree more safe. I'm so angry! thanks again for your feedback! appreciate it/

It's hard to be a new homeowner without any experience in these areas...
 
I hear ya. Unfortunately I didn't even know I should hire one until researching pruning after the fact. Now I know. I went with a crew who came highly recommended by numerous people in the area.
It’s not hard if you hire actual arborists for a consultation, people with training in this field, versus tree cutter or powerline clearance hacks.

The tree will rebound and live on but it will forever be worse for the experience.
 
I hear ya. Unfortunately I didn't even know I should hire one until researching pruning after the fact. Now I know. I went with a crew who came highly recommended by numerous people in the area.

Been there. It happens. But now you are worlds wiser than before. Count this as tuition in the school of life.

And welcome to the site!!
 
Looks like they left their cambium saver at the top as well…awful all around :-(
 
unfortunately around this area the big tree companies will do this and say its fine for the tree. of course it generates them tons of money and guaranteed work in a couple years when the 15 shoots that come out of the "topped" part reach teh original height of the tree. trees should be thinned properly back to an actual branch - if not all the way back to the trunk. your tree will probably be ok as stated above, and when it's leafed out you likely won't notice it unless you're looking for it. but if nothing else it serves for education. in the meantime, i'd do some looking for an actual arborist in the area. find someone who says what those guys did was very wrong...
 
unfortunately around this area the big tree companies will do this and say its fine for the tree. of course it generates them tons of money and guaranteed work in a couple years when the 15 shoots that come out of the "topped" part reach teh original height of the tree. trees should be thinned properly back to an actual branch - if not all the way back to the trunk. your tree will probably be ok as stated above, and when it's leafed out you likely won't notice it unless you're looking for it. but if nothing else it serves for education. in the meantime, i'd do some looking for an actual arborist in the area. find someone who says what those guys did was very wrong...
thank you! Wow. so disappointing. I'm looking for an arborist in the area now.
 
total hackjob on their part, that company is to go on the "never again hire" list

hope your tree recovers from this, have an actual certified arborist come out and clean up whats left
 
I hear ya. Unfortunately I didn't even know I should hire one until researching pruning after the fact. Now I know. I went with a crew who came highly recommended by numerous people in the area.
Make sure you let those people that this person does not know how to care for trees.

They may be perfectly fine for removals, but should never be trusted to provide any kind of care for living trees. They simply do not understand tree biology.

Every now and then I'll talk to an otherwise reputable company who will say "we don't like to top trees, but if clients insist, we'll try to talk them out of it, explain why it is bad, but ultimately if that is what they want, we'll do it because its going to happen anyhow." My reply, is "not by me!". But my point is, they don't even have that argument here because you didn't ask for it to be topped...they didn't try to talk you out of that. This tells me they just don't know better.

(oh, saying they don't know what they are doing is being generous/giving them the benefit of the doubt...because if they do know what they are doing, they are just straight up crooked!)

Probably nothing to do right now besides spread the word "do not hire". But in 3-4 years there will be lots of sprouts coming out. then you need a good arborist to do some corrective pruning. Cut back to one sprout as much as possible. then in about 3-5 years after that, they should look at it again to see how much rot is associated with those topping wounds and if larger branches need to come off or if the tree should be removed. I would NOT remove it now. It may recover well...or rot may progress quickly. I would monitor that and make the decision when you know how it responds.
 
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