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Rant: Topping trees had its uses, and I miss that straightforward approach
Back in the 90s, we topped trees regularly to clear space for power lines without fuss. I know it's frowned upon now, but it prevented outages during bad weather. For example, we'd top those overgrown poplars by the road, and they'd sprout back quick. Today, everyone insists on thinning cuts, which can leave trees weak in high winds. I once worked on a property where a 'correctly' pruned oak still dropped a big limb in a storm. The old method was faster and often safer for the crew. We've overcomplicated things, and I think that's a shame.
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the_gavin7mo ago
Remember how topping kept outages down during storms. But I heard that topped trees can get rotten inside over time. Your example about the oak limb failing after thinning cuts is interesting. What specific weaknesses did you see in those pruned trees compared to topped ones? Also, were there any long term problems with the regrowth after topping, like disease or the trees becoming weak? Just trying to get a clearer picture of the trade-offs.
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vera_robinson366mo ago
My neighbor's topped maple from 2012 is basically a hollow shell now, full of carpenter ants. The thinning cuts I've seen fail usually just lose one limb because the wound calluses over weird, creating a weak spot. Topping forces a bunch of weak, fast growing shoots that snap easily in the next ice storm, and those big cuts never really heal, they just rot. Like @taylorshah said about regrowth being solid, but that's only true for like the first few years before the decay sets in deep. It's a short term fix that basically gives the tree a slow death sentence.
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lindag337mo ago
Topping causes more long-term weakness and disease than thinning cuts, despite storm outage claims.
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