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Here are the advantages of tree pruning:
A tree should be removed under the following circumstances:
Topping involves the indiscriminate cutting of tree branches to stubs with the aim of reducing the tree's size. It goes by various names such as heading, tipping, hat-racking, and rounding over. Despite being widely recognized as one of the most harmful tree pruning practices, topping remains unfortunately common. Often, homeowners feel their trees have outgrown their property, or they perceive tall trees as potential hazards. However, it's crucial to understand that topping is not an effective method for reducing a tree's height nor does it mitigate any hazards. In fact, topping can ultimately make a tree more hazardous. It's essential to recognize that topping is not an acceptable pruning technique, and there are far better alternatives available.
Here are several reasons why tree topping is detrimental:
Topping Stresses Trees
Topping typically removes between 50 to 100 percent of the leaf-bearing crown of a tree. Since leaves are vital for a tree's nutrition, their removal can temporarily starve the tree. This severe pruning triggers a survival mechanism in the tree, causing it to produce rapid growth of multiple shoots below each cut. If the tree lacks sufficient energy reserves to produce a new crop of leaves promptly, it can become severely weakened and may ultimately die.
Topping Causes Decay
Ideally, pruning cuts should be made just beyond the branch collar at the point where a branch attaches to the tree. Healthy trees can effectively close such wounds if they are not too large. However, cuts made along a limb between lateral branches leave behind stubs with wounds that the tree may struggle to close. This exposed wood tissue can begin to decay, and while some trees can compartmentalize the decay, severe topping cuts often overwhelm the tree's defenses, providing a pathway for decay organisms to spread.
Topping Can Lead to Sunburn
The branches within a tree's crown produce numerous leaves to absorb sunlight. When these leaves are removed through topping, the remaining branches and trunk suddenly face intense levels of light and heat. This exposure can result in sunburn of the tissues beneath the bark, leading to issues such as cankers, bark splitting, and even the death of some branches.
Topping Creates Hazards
The survival mechanism that causes a tree to produce multiple shoots below each topping cut comes at a great expense to the tree's structural integrity. These shoots develop from buds near the surface of the old branches. Unlike normal branches that develop in a socket of overlapping wood tissues, these new shoots are anchored only in the outermost layers of the parent branches. The new shoots are capable of growing quickly, as much as 20 feet in one year, in some tree species. Unfortunately, the shoots are prone to breaking, especially during high winds. Although the goal of topping was to reduce the tree’s height to make it safer, it has been made more hazardous than before.
Topping Makes Trees Ugly
Topping typically leaves behind unsightly stubs where branch ends are removed, destroying the tree's natural form. Without leaves (which can be up to six months of the year), a topped tree appears disfigured and mutilated. Even with leaves, it often resembles a dense ball of foliage, lacking the graceful form it once had. Once a tree has been topped, it can never fully regain its natural appearance.
Occasionally, there arises a need to reduce the height or spread of a tree, such as to provide clearance for utility lines. In such cases, there are recommended techniques available. Ideally, branches should be pruned back to their point of origin. If shortening a branch is necessary, it should be trimmed back to a lateral branch that is substantial enough to assume the terminal role. As a general guideline, it's advisable to cut back to a lateral branch that is at least one-third the diameter of the limb being removed.
This method of branch reduction aims to maintain the tree's natural form. However, in instances where large cuts are unavoidable, the tree may struggle to close over and compartmentalize the wounds effectively. At times, the most suitable solution may be to remove the tree and replace it with a species better suited to the site.
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