When you top your
tree you create
ACUTE STARVATION!
The structure of a
tree is a well designed scaffold for that species to put its leaves into the
best relationship with the sun that the particular tree species can achieve,
and all the buds and new leaves are stored in a dormant state in the live twigs
ready to spring into action and unfurl when winter ends.
A tree that is topped
loses all those stored food resources for that year, and vastly depletes its
energy reserves by starting from scratch.
Normal growth is controlled from the terminal buds on the live twigs,
which are removed in topping, and trees generally don’t activate latent buds in
true wood except under severe stress.
The new growth is a desperate attempt to replace the rich canopy-in-waiting
that the tree constructed in the previous year and expected to use for
nutrition in the growing season. These
suckers and sprouts never form normal branches and those branches never develop
a normal attachment to deal with subsequent environmental challenges.
Damaging the
structure of the tree and creating acute starvation makes the tree more
dangerous in the long run.
By topping your tree, you accelerate its death,
and ruin its form
Topping
won’t make a Tree Smaller....
Let say that your tree is a mature sprawling maple, with weak wood, and
some dead wood and broken branches. You can try to control its
size temporarily by topping. But it needs a
certain leaf mass to survive. After you
top it, the tree will grow as rapidly as possible with hundreds of weak
branches to try to create enough leaves to meet its needs. Its growth rate
actually increases. If it can’t resume
growing, it will decline and die.
A
tree’s size is determined by its species, and you can’t re-make a maple into a
red bud. If the tree has outgrown its site or its time, better to replace it.
Topping
won’t make a Tree Safer....
According to Dr. Alex Shigo, a world renowned scientist on the subject
of trees, topping is the most serious injury you can inflict on your tree. He calls it “a crime against nature.”
In fact, the reason that most public entities ban topping is that topping makes trees more hazardous in
the long run.
Topping opens the
tree for invading bacteria and fungi that cause ROT, since the tree cannot wall
off the stem cuts, as it often can with a proper removal cut of a side branch.
Topping and repeated topping sets up internal
columns of rotten wood, the ill effects of which progressively weaken the
tree. This effect is combined with the
starvation from removing the normal buds and leaf canopy. The new limbs that result from rapid crowded
sucker and shoot growth are poorly attached, and even though they can get quite
large, they never gain the structural integrity of original branches. The thick regrowth actually has greater wind
resistance, and increases the risk of blow-down in a storm.
Topping creates an
ongoing Maintenance Nightmare....
You thought topping would be a quick fix to your ‘overgrown’ tree – but
once you top a tree and set off the cycle of abnormal growth, you have to top
it again and again. Some tree species grow
so vigorously you almost miss seeing the abnormal branching pattern from repeat
cuts. But each time the tree is
re-topped, it worsens the structural weaknesses and each cut forms numerous new
suckers. A topped tree is like the
mythological hydra snake, where one head cut off is replaced with many more.
Look carefully at the pictures and see if you can identify the repeated
topping cuts, and note the congestion as the process proceeds.
Proper pruning may cost more initially, but it lasts longer. And it improves the health and beauty of the
tree.
Topping creates an
eye-sore....
Dr.
Sligo says that topping “destroys a tree’s dignity”. The freshly sawed off
stumps are just the beginning of the ugly eyesore; the tree looks even worse
when it regrows a witch’s broom of suckers and sprouts.
The natural beauty of a tree’s crown is a function of the uninterrupted
taper from the trunk to the ever finer and more delicate branches. Each tree has its own architectural signature
in the regular division into branches. Even in winter, an experienced person
can recognize a pin oak from a red oak.
Topping destroys the tree’s life pattern in a single day.
It’s your tree, but visually it enhances or detracts from
the entire neighborhood. A topped tree reduces the appraised value of your property. Many topped trees are a
liability because a new owner will face removing a damaged and deformed tree.
So you didn’t know...
But why did your
arborist agree to top your tree? Ah, you didn’t hire a certified arborist*? A guy came to the door and offered to do it cheaply? Your cousin does trees in the winter?
Well, now you do know. |
*A certified arborist is a person who has been trained and tested in scientific principles of arboriculture (the care of trees). He or she should not top a tree except under specific circumstances (like under wires) as a last resort. An arborist can show you how to manage your tree in a way to permanently reduce any hazard, and may even recommend that you are better off taking your tree down if it is severely damaged or has outgrown the site. If you insist on topping your tree, your arborist should be aware that this is against the City ordinance.
