professional tree care and maintenance

Lopping and Topping. Any ‘tree surgeon’ that offers this service should be avoided! Most trees that we go to that are decaying and dangerous are in this condition due to ‘lopping and topping’. Professional tree surgeons will ‘crown reduce’ ‘crown lift’ or thin, using a technique known as Natural Target Pruning. The careful placing of the cuts stimulates the trees natural defences in the branch collar or the branch ridge, which effectively compartmentalises the wound and prevents infection. Internodal cuts (lopping) and removing the lead stem (topping) gives the tree no chance of preventing or fighting infection and decay. Lopped and topped trees not only look ugly, but produce a mass of branches from dormant buds under the bark. These branches do not have the structural strength of branches formed during natural growth, so a tree is formed that is both ugly and unsafe. More often than not, the topping cut on the main stem rots deep into the tree. The tree may look as though it is growing, as it has become distressed and sent out lots of branches (epicormic growth) in order to try to maintain photosynthesis, but it will rot out and die prematurely. Below are some examples of poor tree work carried out by others, which has caused the trees to rot and die.

Topping of this willow tree caused rot throughout the stem. This then became a dangerous tree needing removal. This type of decay is common in topped trees. Quite often this goes unnoticed until the tree is in the final stages of dying

A tree surgeon’s view down into the rotted-out hollow stem of a ‘topped’ sycamore. This was hollow as far down as was visible and, as the heartwood was gone, which gives the tree it’s strength, this tree had to be removed for safety reasons. On removal, it became clear that the rot had extended into the root system, compromising its safety.

This tree had been topped about 5 years previously, hence the unnatural looking branch structure. The tree was dying due to rot that had set in through the topping wounds, with the stem having several deep rotten cavities.

If you do not wish to lose your tree a few years after having it reduced, use only a qualified tree surgeon. There are many people operating out there who do not understand the physiology of a tree; and who work unqualified and uninsured. A topped tree is ugly and the ill-effects will endure for the prematurely-shortened life of the tree. Due to ongoing high maintenance costs, a topped tree can put off potential buyers of a property, reducing it’s value. We are happy to give advise and free quotations.