Reasons why tree topping is wrong
Having healthy, lush growth near the tree’s top is aesthetically pleasing. This is different with topped trees, as unpleasant as it may appear. It looks like some of them had an unpleasant trim. When this happens, trees lose much more than their visual appeal.
Trees lose more than their aesthetic value when this happens. Trees suffer from the practice of topping for a variety of additional reasons. While considering whether or not to top your trees, getting all the information you can is essential. Before understanding why tree topping is bad, let’s define what we mean by saying tree topping.
Tree Topping:
To prune back a tree, or top it, is to reduce its height. When trees are topped, sometimes the entire tree canopy has to be taken down. The tops of trees are periodically pruned without cutting off all of the smaller branches below them. Trees weakened in a storm and might fall on a person, or a vehicle is often topped.
Trees that are too tall and whose further growth will cause damage to power or utility lines are sometimes topped. Some homeowners choose to have their trees topped if they have grown too huge for their properties or represent an unbearable risk to their homes and families.
Why Is topping bad for trees?
The effects of tree topping are far-reaching and devastating. The main drawbacks of tree topping are as follows:
- Degradation increases with topping:
Trees may heal and mend wounds after being properly trimmed with chainsaw chain tools. Topping, however, is a different story no matter what equipment is utilized. The tree’s wounds from being topped might not heal. Those conditions lead to the onset of degradation in the wood’s tissue. Usually, a tree only separates the rotting parts into their little compartments.
Yet, a tree can rarely recover from the numerous, serious wounds inflicted by topping. As a result, the tree is more vulnerable to disease and destruction from insects, bugs, and annoying germs like fire blight.
- Food supply Is affected by topping:
With the help of photosynthesis, leaves produce nourishment for trees. When a tree is topped, anywhere from half to all of its leaves are removed. This has a dramatic effect on the tree’s capacity to produce food. Hence, topping can cause starvation and negatively affect a tree’s development. Trees can die from starvation if their leafy crown is cut off during topping.
- Topping increases possibility of limb failure:
A tree’s natural defenses will activate after being topped. If the tree’s hormonal structure is altered, growth can be stimulated. Thus, the tree could rapidly develop new branches and leaves. To compensate for the strength lost by topping, these branches grow far more quickly than typical branches.
These branches, however, usually need to be stronger and have a shaky hold on the main tree. Thus, they still tend to fall apart in high winds or during a storm. That’s to say, there’s a far higher possibility of limb failure.
Conclusion:
Trees can be trimmed down in height by topping them. Trees that are excessively tall for their surroundings or the owners consider a hazard should be cut down. Nevertheless, topping is not a safe way to shorten someone’s stature and will not prevent any potential dangers in the future.
Being an established business, Aesthetic Tree & Hedge Services offers the following services: Hedge trimming, arborist reports, tree removal, trimming of trees, tree topping, and tree vegetation. Look out for this website if you need any of these tree-related services.
