You should NEVER prune your trees like this!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2024
- Topping a tree is not a good idea. Most of the time, topping is done to reduce the size of the tree's crown without regard to its health. Sadly, despite research and best management practices discouraging the practice, it is still common in landscapes today. Instead, if you want to reduce the size of your tree, consider hiring a knowledgeable arborist to do a "crown reduction prune". This method slowly reduces the tree's crown in a way that's much easier for the tree to handle. For more information about why topping a tree is not a good idea, visit these resources:
- extension.psu.edu/tree-toppin...
- www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-...
Topping varies from pollarding in a few ways. Pollarding a tree:
- usually starts at a young age, when the tree is more vigorous and more tolerant of stressors.
- involves the continued maintenance and care of resprouts, and the formation of nubs at the end of the heading cuts. These nubs are allowed to seal and they are not removed.
Whereas, topping a tree:
- usually occurs when a tree is mature and is typically too old to handle a stressor of this scale.
- involves no follow up or maintenance of resprouts.
- is usually done to reduce the size of the tree instead of abiding to a specific pruning system.
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A couple things to note that I couldn't include in this version since TH-cam Shorts are only 1 minute long:
1. Topping differs slightly from a pruning technique known as pollarding. More information can be found in the description of the video.
2. This information comes from the International Society of Arboriculture's Certified Arborist study guide, and has been extensively studied by scientists and tree researchers. Despite this, topping remains a common practice in many areas of the world, especially with particular species like Crepe Myrtles. Just because it "works" for some species, does not make it an acceptable practice across the board, especially with so much evidence against it.
3. If you don't want a big tree on your property, plant a small- or medium-sized one. If you've inherited a tree that is too big for your liking, hire an experienced ISA-certified arborist to do a "crown reduction" prune or "end-weight reduction" if limbs are over your house.
Thanks for watching!
> 3.
This is what i respect. Yoy provide an alternative solution that works to the same intended effect, rather than saying something is bad and providing no further commentary
I don't know why I always spelled crepe myrtle as crape myrtle cuz they usually look like crap when people top them every season.
As a boy, our family had an elderly woman living across the street from me who had a very small front yard with two catalpa trees. She had the trees pollarded every year to keep them small in height and width and to promote huge leaves. It's a fond memory.
@@adakahlessI think crape myrtle is a correct spelling, too! I agree though. They’re one of my least favorite plants lol
@@thegreatchickenoverlord5976thank you, I appreciate it! I try to provide sources and good info!
And it looks terrible.
Just select a tree that fits what you want instead of trying to force nature to obey you. 🤦♂️
This is just Bonsai Murican style
But don't plant non natives
It does look terrible. But formation pruning is an important step in tree maintenance, specially in urban settings ;) letting grow naturally can bring a whole bunch of "issues" - just like in nature.
amen
@@thatrandomguy8567 Introduced are ok too, y’know? There is a reason we call them “introduced” and not invasive…
My dad always taught me the best tree pruning you shouldn't be able to tell after that it was pruned at all. Sorta like bonsai.
When you start forming a bonsai it looks hideous and even worse than average topped trees. But a regular trimming of already developed bonsai looks really undistinguishable
You can absolutely tell when bonsai is pruned lol
@@littlewigglemonster7691not to someone with no experience/preexisting knowledge about that
That’s pretty dumb. I’m an arborist, and a good prune job should remind you of a good haircut. Noticeably different, noticeably less. But don’t with style and with the individual’s considerations in mind
There's a right way and a wrong way to prune trees.
In the video it looks like the wrong season and the ABSOLUTE wrong way to prune.
You (well at least I can) tell they just cut back the branches with zero rhyme or reason other than "trim it back".
A properly pruned tree will grow back fuller, greener, and better shaped if you do it right.
It's the exact same with rose bushes. There's a season and a method to prune rose bushes so that they come back healthier, stronger, and better looking/shaped, with more rose buds than it had the year before. But you can't just "cut back 3 feet everywhere" and think you just "pruned" unless you did it blind.
You absolutely can prune trees, that's not what is going on in this video. The trees in this video are "pruned" the same way purchasing a 3 year extended warranty for $15 is "a good idea" when you purchased a pair of $20 earphones.
Also, on the shallow side, it looks like garbage before and after the regrowth comes in.
Yes!!! I hate seeing people do this to trees, makes them so hideous.
literally so fucking ugly😭 it looks like how a 3 year old would draw a tree
Municipality really ruined some great trees of mi city 😔. I dont know if they consult to professionals, but they only cut and think they did great
I notice this is often done before selling a home to expose the building and views from it.
@@ydne Thats insane lmfao youd have to be out of your gourd to wanna pay _more_ for a building with sparse, hideous trees rather than nice lush gorgeous ones
My parents did this to a maple tree in the backyard when I was about 17. I loved that tree. Spent many summers climbing it or laying in a hammock in its shade. Then they topped it. The tree went out one bunch of leaves, but they never turned green, just it's normal autumnal red/gold, even though it was the middle of summer, and the whole branch bundle fell out after a few days. The tree never sprouted leaves again.
That's so painful to read. I had a similar apple tree near our country road. Nice and shady with wide, comfortably angled branches perfect for sprawling in for hours with a good book in the summertime. Tried to prune it up a bit occasionally, and made a marvelous walking stick from one of the water sprouts in the center. Bawled my head off one summer when a guy unexpectedly began mowing the ditches with a huge tractor with a massive mower deck (unexpected, because everyone on my gravel road mowed their own ditches. We were largely ignored by any government entities in charge of improvements because we were between two jurisdictions.) THEN, for the first time in my life, I saw the mower deck rise into the air and start turning my tree into mulch. Thankfully I wasn't in it at the time! It wasn't overhanging the road, but it was over the ditch, I guess. Maybe he was trying to keep it out of the power lines... but he didn't give the neighbors' similar trees the same treatment. I wish I'd been bold enough to ask what was going on. I spent the next two days with a long trimmer saw trying to at least tidy all the splintered ends, hoping that my tree wouldn't be completely destroyed by fungus or bugs. It didn't die, but it was always sickly after that. The destruction of the one quiet place in my life really gave me an appreciation for careful arborists.
@@mungbean345So terrible to read this! And I am so sorry for your tree and sad you lost your only sanctuary. I hope you were able to find another safe space to rest and dream eventually 💚
@@ofrecentvintage That's such a kind comment. Thank you! I am blessed that my life is largely very peaceful now and I thankfully don't often feel the urge to go hide away to find the elusive calm. 💖
@@mungbean345 So glad to hear the wonderful turn your situation has taken. I understand a quest for peace. May the peace you've found and blessings you enjoy forever continue! 🫶🏾
@@ofrecentvintage Thank you, and the same to you!
I swear, landscape workers don't know the first thing about trees. They seem to always be screwing things up. I wish people would be more careful and let the trees be.
You pay peanuts you get monkeys
landscape workers are not paid nor educated enough to refuse the clients who need to demonstrate complete mastery of their own domain.
The business owners and homeowners need to learn not to let landscapers mess with their trees. Between weed trimmer damage, volcano mulching, and improper pruning, they do a lot of damage.
There’ll be a consequence, just give it some time 😊
Idk whyt kinda education y'all landscapers get in your country, but we learn everything about trees there is to know. I live in central europe, and am a certified landscaper, and landscape architect@@dubsbarry9963
My neighbor did this to their apple tree & we were like 😮 oh no! But they were confident... they have no apple tree now.
oh noo! apple trees should be pollarded, not topped! bummer. my neighbour did this to his cherry tree, it stressed the tree out so bad and all its leaves dropped into my garden 😳
i did it and improved my apple yield by 3x
@@marcelgowa and they are easier to get
We had this mango tree in the backyard that was around even before I was born in the 80's. So many super typhoons and it survived them like a champ. Then my parents decided to top it off because it got big. It barely had enough time to resprout leaves when a typhoon hit after 20 years of not having a typhoon. I loved and ate the fruit of this tree. It died few weeks after the storm. It happened last year, but we are all still devastated that its gone.
honestly, even not being spiteful I hope you remind your parents of their mistake for the rest of their lives so they never think of doing it again.
there's no reason to be doing this kind of thing and it's very sad that happened to a fruit tree which spent its whole life making those branches to fruit, only to be violated by destructive humans and for nature to take her gift back from ungratefulness:/
Sounds like a male mulberry my parents have/had. They had 4 in a certain area in the backyard and only one is doing okay. Two, against a fence, died on their own from, I presume, drought (one fell and destroyed the fence), and the last one was topped after the tree house it held was taken down and now half of it is dead and it's on its way out... 😢
Ugh man that's terrible, having an old mango tree like that is such a blessing 😢
People should respect living things that are older than them..
So many potential customers get pissed when i say i dont top trees. I try to explain the best i can but some just dont get it
You need to communicate with them where they're at. They share the intention of not killing the tree or they'd just take it down, but the other intention is...
I don't know. Avoid power lines, avoid causing too much shade, avoid the tree touching the house... whatever led them to want to cut part of the tree, "don't top your tree" is not a solution. " if you must cut a tree cut it where it branches but it's best done by a professional because (insert actual reason)" would be better advice.
Ignorant fools, they want what they want and they want it now. 🙄
Had the city "tree trimmers" come in and lop off half of the branches on trees on the side of our house because the branches were supposedly encroaching a 20 foot easement for a sewer line. (No, they actually weren't!) As well as 50+ year old deciduous trees that they whacked branches off, they scalped HALF of the arbor vitaes - cut one side off right down the middle to the center trunk!! The trees had been there 25+ years, but now suddenly were an issue?? We kept them pruned and they acted as a visual and wind barrier. Of the 13 trees, only 5 have survived their butchering. The city did nothing to correct the problem, blamed it on the contractor who marked the trees - he was supposed to mark 10 feet on either side of the pipeline for access, instead, he marked 20 feet. I even tried to talk to them and explain there had to be a mistake WHILE they were out there with chain saws, but they just told me to take up with the city.
Sounds like the city destroyed your private property and should compensate it ngl
You should 100% push this further and get compensated.
I would definitely push back
They probably did you a favour...but don't take my word for it. Tree huggers will tell you the opposite, but they often sell up just before the trees start to become an absolute nuisance.
In crape myrtles it's called crape murder. Too many people do this and then whine when the branches break under water/ice/snow/moss.
my grandparents did this to their crape myrtle and I'll never forgive them😂
My entire neighborhood did it to their crapes except for us a few years ago and people have been jealous ever since
My grandfather did this to his crepe Myrtle for many years and it eventually stopped growing right. However last time I checked the crepe myrtle had the last laugh. He eventually cut it into the ground hoping to kill it off but the root system is too strong and it keeps sending up new sprouts during the summer.
They did this to the very long line of crepe myrtles stretching down the road in my neighborhood, and I'm pretty sure they only did this to keep branches away from the power lines. Great to know they only reassured that the new, weak branches they're gonna grow now have a much higher chance of getting on the line and causing an outage.
It's so frustrating to see the crepe murder this time of year. On the plus side we're nearing red bud season which is a magical time of year
I always felt like it was the wrong thing, every time I saw someone do this, just a gut feeling. Thanks for sharing this knowledge!
The stress causes what is called epicormic budding.
"Feeling the need" to survive, dormant buds shoot out instead of hibernating ones. These are usually poorly inserted in the trunk, a problem which is accentuated by the density at which they usually do so.
It's actually a public health issue, and damaging something as important as urban trees should have steeper consequences. It happens everywhere.
Where I live in England, a similar pruning technique has been used on Willow trees for hundreds of years. For Willows it's a sustainable way of producing lots of thin straight shoots for basketry and fencing very quickly, and the trees seem to live much longer than those which are left to grow naturally.
That's why the whomping willow looked as though it had been in a fight with a tornado..
Willows in the US look like waterfalls with branches so thick it stays dry under in the rain..
Willow is certainly an exception.
I know someone with a Weeping Willow, that is just as big now as it it was.
Glad some people can find a use for them, since they are usually a trash tree.
@@richtomlinson7090 a trash tree? The wood is used in the manufacture of boxes, brooms, cricket bats, cradle boards, chairmans and other furniture, dolls, willow flutes, poles, sweat lodges, toys, turnery, tool handles, wood veneer, wands and whistles. In addition, tannin, fibre, paper, rope and string can be produced from the wood.
Further, willows make attractive, fine-textured small trees, hedges, thickets, ground covers, or specimen shrubs. They're great for erosion control, biofiltration and bioremediation, easy to grow in a range of soils and fairly trouble-free.
Can't say all that about an oak tree.
@@Faesharlyn you misunderstood what I wrote.
I appreciate trees and I'm a tree nerd, but Willow is actually not a commercially valuable tree like White Oak, or Red Oak.
It's cool if someone can use it, but it's mostly grown to soak up water, and to be burned outside, unless you can find someone to utilize the tree.
Nobody is buying knotty fast growth weeping willow logs.
Aspirin isn't made from Willow bark anymore, but it was a precursor to the Aspirin we see today.
They used Willow to make lightweight artificial limbs, but I don't think they do that anymore.
There are plenty of tree species that are considered weeds today, because they grow everywhere that you don't need them, and they aren't perfect useful materials.
@@richtomlinson7090 I wonder how much they stabilize the riverbanks upstream and keep your own home safe from flooding... to call something trash because you can't appreciate its value is awfully short sighted.
Cricket bats are exclusively made of English or Kashmir willow, it's the only wood suitable. Imagine English history without cricket, which is the second most popular sport *in the world*.
Not commercially valuable? Entire towns are kept alive by growing willow trees and making cricket bats..
Doing what a high end tornado does.. manually and on purpose 💀
I see this all the time. It is one of my pet peeves. I call it blunt stump pruning. I hope you give a lesson in proper reduction pruning. It's fun and looks great.
My neighbor did this to their mature peach tree and murdered it. 😢 I was so mad they did it in the middle of summer too.
Thats exactly why it died.. you don lt chop mid summer its too hot.
The electic companies do this a lot. It looks terrible
this is a pretty common bonsai technique. which of course, is dumb as hell for a full size tree.
They did this to our beautiful boysenberry tree, killing it... Somehow a small branch still survived but we haven't gotten fruits in years. I miss em :'(
I used to have a wallnut tree outside my window, they cut it so much they killed it. It was my favorite thing in sprig when the leaves wpuld come back. I really really miss that tree. And it was a strong thick tree that the city ruined. 😢
Unfortunately, I’ve noticed my city does this pretty much everywhere. I always thought it was a little odd, and I guess now I know why.
y
They did that to 2 rows of Magnolia trees in the apartment complex where my mother lives 4 or 5 years ago. Then they covered the lawn below in plastic and rocks. The leaves are always limp now and half brown. And they haven't bloomed since. It's depressing.
Yesterday evening while taking out the garbage, I looked up at the trees in lamentation as I always do, and I noticed a single bloom after all these years. A beacon of hope. God is good
They did that to a beautiful oak tree and a maple tree on our block here in Philly. They survived but I knew they had stressed out the trees pretty badly.
😭😢
This is exactly what happened to my mulberry tree. There were about 14 big branches and i hired a tree trimmer to remove 1/2 to 2/3 so it was more manageable. My spouse arrived home while they were working on it and changed the instructions to basically top the tree and leave the 14 branches. Took 3 years to produce any berries and in the end it got fungal infestation and died.
I would be so mad
Oh man , a neighbor did this to their trees. It looks horrendous.
I live in the Bavarian Forest. You'd think that people here knew how to live with trees. They don't. Trees are frquently violated and sentenced to death, especially if it next to a street.
Nothing looks worse than trees done like this.
better than a stump so not really the worst outcome
can you do a video on how to rehab trees that have been pollarded or topped
No
Power's gotta stay on
I don't think you can rehab something like that, esp if it's hella botched
You can rehab a topped tree, it takes so much time though.
@@bozoc2572 nope 👎 damage has been done that will never be undone.
Thank you for the information. I’m young, but I have my own landscaping business and I always tell people that it’s not good to cut the tree like this. But sometimes they want me to cut it this way anyways. The sad thing is that it extremely common to see trees cut like this. Every time I see it I always feel super bad for the tree. But again thanks for the information.
This cut is used to prevent property damage. Branches can get as big as trunks, so cutting them back closer to their trunks diminishes threats to property structures underneath. It is not as perfect, but this cut has saved many trees from being taken down entirely.
The problem is most people in my business want either the tree reduced in size, which unfortunately requires this the one time. I tell them it'll stress the tree but if you don't let it get out of control again then it shouldn't hurt the tree to maintain that size doing it yearly
Can you do a video on proper timing for pruning? A tree in my neighborhood dropped a branch on a house in a windstorm and got immediately topped, along with his brother across the street. Both trees absolutely poured out liquid for months.
Here in Florida many non native locals and even native locals commit what I like to call Crepe Murder on the many landscape crepe Myrtles here. They can be such large and beautiful trees when given time.
They just did this to the little trees outside my apartment. They look awful now.
I see this all the time in middle class/ wealth neighborhoods and I don’t understand why since most of the time the tree looks the same or was completely fine
Until the tree is 40 ft and you got issues.
Noted. I don't think the trimmers in our neighborhood know this...
Oh I always wondered why some trees looked like this!! It doesn't look like it would be good even without knowing this
I live rented in a company community & without necessity at all they cut a small tree like this, that gave shade next to my house to a neighbor. I disliked it so much because it was not needed at all.
We had one of the most beautiful trees on W. 15th St., in New York City the canopy was just gorgeous. Some hack tree trimmers that the city hired cut down 2/3 of the canopy.
Horrific
Can you please get this message out to the cities grounds keepers. They are by far the worst in doing this.
Also known as polarizing. Common agricultural practice with some plants such as grapes. Also commonly used with vines on the side of buildings.
Also,if power lines are the issue, remove the tree completely and plant a smaller tree like a dogwood or whatever is hardy in your zone.
More frequent Cuts would also be an Option. We got a line down the street and they Just trimm the trees every few years. Keeps them away from the Line, but IS never a harsh enough Cut to actually Harm them
The power line company did this to my mature pear tree that is not even close to the power lines in july while i was on vacation. I was soooo pissed when i came back home to a trampled garden, pears and tee limbs on the ground and two missing bushes in my backyard. My neighbor said it was the power line company that did it, but it still doesnt make sense.
As a power engineer, I am sorry for what happened to your tree
That being said, I can give you my perspective, every power line must have a safety area around it. I'm sure that to your eyes it doesn't look like your tree is close to it, but trust me it doesn't have to look close to actually be close. also the branch cutting might've been a bit excessive cause they may take into account the tree regrowing back into the danger zone
All I can tell you is that in my experience this was done for your own safety
@@ok-hv1or
Are y'all allowed to leave a mess and tear up people's yard without cleaning up for their safety too?
@@justinstewart4889 it depends on what you mean by "y'all" and what you mean by "tear up people's yards"
But well.... kinda yeah, usually the power company buys the small piece of land that it needs or pays for some type of 'ease of access and maintenance' right
Oh and when we say "safty" we mean your safety but also the safety of the grid
But feel free to do your research and educate me on this matter I am not a US citizen, and we don't have all your "rights", plus private property (here) is private until "the common good" strikes again. I wasn't saying that what they did was nice and also wasn't making some sort of legal judgment. All I was saying was that it was probably better that they did that, trying to explain to OP that when it comes to power lines sometimes things don't apear to be so close for the unprofessional but in reality they are
@@ok-hv1or they just meant that if the power company comes to trim a tree in someone’s yard they could clean up after too. It’s pretty simple and fair thing to do.
In some cities in Ukraine, the local government was cutting off the branches to the point where it looked like a 20-foot stump. Looked SOOOO BAD if not ever worse later when these thin branches started to grow all over, reminded me of oblivion trees from TES
They do that in Austria and IMO trees like this seem so sad to me. I once commented that a „flat” forced to grow flat 2D tree on a flat net was a Sad Tree and and the person ridiculed me. I do believe trees have an ephemeral LIFE and if we damage them or constraint them they are Sad Trees.
It doesn’t matter if your and ISA certified arborist and or licensed as well. I’m a landscape installer do maintenance as well. I’ve tried to send tree work to many ISA arborists. I later come to my clients house to find the trees topped. In my area the people who do great work tend not to be ISA certified but have a horticultural back ground like me. I’ve learned that they tend to be the highest bid. Many ISA arborist, I’ve worked with don’t trim the trees. They send there workers to trim the trees. Most of them have no back ground in tree care. Note to home owner, don’t make your decision on hiring a arborist based on price and make sure they trim the tree or that the crew if well experienced in tree care.
Thanks for this. I am so mad when my neighbors do this. I will share.
I saw this once when I was working in tree care and asked my coworker what his thoughts were on why people would do that, as it was a busy road in a very nice town and they were big beautiful trees. Turns out they were invasive callery pear trees and sometimes people will top them, especially before flowering so they don’t reproduce! So not good for the tree and will definitely shorten it’s lifespan but means you’re keeping a well established tree (it would take years for newly planted tree to grow to give the same ecosystem benefits) while lessening the impact of the invasive’s reproduction. Interesting debate
I'd be interested in a video explaining the difference between pollarding and topping! They look the same to me as a non-tree person haha
They're pretty similar! Here's some quick info about their differences:
Pollarding a tree:
- usually starts at a young age, when the tree is more vigorous and more tolerant of stressors.
- involves the continued maintenance and care of resprouts, and the formation of nubs at the end of the heading cuts. These nubs are allowed to seal and they are not removed.
Whereas, topping a tree:
- usually occurs when a tree is mature and is typically too old to handle a stressor of this scale.
- involves no follow up or maintenance of resprouts.
- is usually done to reduce the size of the tree instead of abiding to a specific pruning system.
@@Andrew_the_Arborist
Topping is a misnomer for either improper pruning or improper pollarding and the only two distinctions that matter are the type of tree and its utility, the tree age not so much!
I often notice academics from the American continent pretend they have discovered something that has been known forever literally since the dawn of culture and still manage to poorly explain the phenomena.
This is why in Japan, when they do these harsh cuts, they seal the wounds with a bonsai style sealant. Also, trees in general are better cared for than in the USA.
What do you feel about coppicing and could you do a video on it
Pollarding trees is an ancient tradition, and it makes you ask... Why? Basket weaving! It provides a steady source of thin branches that you can use to weave baskets year after year.
Thats Not the Same 😂
With pollarding you got your trees, similar Like leaf hay trees and do the chop every year or every other year in the fall, when the tree is done anyway. Just cutting Away the new growth. Willow does wonderfully with it, due the amount of growth.
The ones in the Video cut Away Like 30 years of growth at onces without any purpose. Leaving huge wounds and the tree to struggle. Not even taking the species into account
Lots of folks do it for very good reasons! Mostly because high winds could cause damage to a tree too close to a house and harm a house or electric lines. And that type of trimming is called pollarding, it's better than removing the tree and starting over with a young tree. It creates a denser shade which some owners prefer. Some trees like silver maple are very prone to wind damage. Pollarding is common in Europe.
It's also often used with peach, olive, citrus trees for easier harvest and wind resistance.
Topping and pollarding aren't the same thing though
A lot of those trees look like they were cropped back to get them away from power lines. In that case all you can do is cut it back as much as possible or just cut it down
This is a common thing done in Finland. Not to make trees smaller but wider and denser. However not with big trees. There are historical and really old trees that this been done to. There is a local arborist company that is currently contracted incharge to doing this to the park trees. Also very popular for apple trees to be cut like this.
Thank you for bringing awareness to this torture/ debauchery that is done to these poor trees😭
Should be illegal
Maybe a tad dramatic
as should many things. but time and time again it's been shown that legality =/= morality
It's a crime against nature and good taste.
@@Username0467not at all. "illegal" is a spectrum. There's no reason a licensed trimmer should be allowed to offer this service without providing informed consent on how bad an idea it is. Just fine them for doing this and move on.
So cut the overgrown tree down instead of trimming it? Do what you want with your tree I'll do what I want with mine.
what are you supposed to do if they're coming near power lines?
Remove them and plant something appropriately sized under the wires. It sucks, but it's really the only way. Otherwise, the electric company will send out their contracted trimming crew, and they'll mangle the tree.
Prune them back slowly and properly over time. You can reduce the size by pruning diligently over a period of time, don't force it all at once.
Chop only the parts growing in the direction of the powerlines
@@jaclynrachellec and then what check the tree every day to make sure it doesn't grow back towards the power line?
This is too much waste of time and resources, also the guy in the video is wrong and is inflating the whole thing
So glad this info is getting out! I learned this as a kid and it hurts every time I see another tree become a victim of a practice we've known is wrong for so long
One day a bunch of guys arrived to cut back the dozen mature hop hornbeam trees on my street. I was terrified they were going top them and do a terrible job because it’s so common to see, but to my pleasant surprise they were smart tree surgeons, and were a joy to watch! They carefully assessed the structure of each tree, then selectively cut branches all throughout to allow the tree more airflow, light, and strength. Afterwards the trees looked less dense, but you could hardly tell that they took at least a third out of each one, and the trees now live on beautifully.
Oh my gosh thank you for confirming this suspicion! I can hear/feel the trees are in discomfort whenever this happens, so I knew something was off about this method...
There is definitely a disruption in the trees' energy. Sometimes, if you listen closely, you can hear them 'ringing' after a super pruning.
What?
They look so goofy after growing back
Depending on the tree. Mesquite trees and palo verde trees tend to grow back beautifully once topped.
Please tell this to my government's national environment and parks board. All the time! They do it all the time and we as people living around those trees suffer too. The amount of light that comes/reflects into our houses after that. wow.
So i think that you are right thought i think there needs to be exceptions. I topped crepe myrtles to the ground because they had swallowed the power lines and the company gave me no choice. However they had been crepe murdered many times before i bought my house and looked terrible. For the past two years, i have managed their growth, so now they have multiple trunks and that showy flowy vase shape. If you cut a tree back you should definitely do it at the correct time of year for that tree. Then, you need to protect it, feed it and trim back growth as it comes back in so it grows in the desired direction. I think this is where so many fail. Those crepe myrtles actually get far more light to all their branches and i can keep them at like 10 feet just managing ramification.
also use bee wax on any cuts to avoid fungal growth.
Oh, preach it! I see so much of this in my county. It looks like a bad hair day, but it lasts for years, until the tree finally succumbs. And from what I hear, it’s sold as a cheaper alternative to proper pruning (which I’ve also been told by an arborist friend that it really doesn’t have to be true). Let’s end unnecessary tree butchery! 😁 Even our local utility contractors do better work than that!
That’s why this is generally recommended for deciduous trees that are in dormancy for the winter, as their energy reserves are generally stored in the trunk and roots. It can also be applied beneficially towards rapidly growing, vigorous tropical tree varieties, deciduous or otherwise, provided they are mature enough.
Circumsizing your trees is wild bro💀💀💀
Why is this legal?
Idk why buy it looks sad
I hate it when a customer wants me to destroy there tree, like this.
Asking to to basically pollarded a mature beech tree last week. Im still upset abut it.
My parents did this to the two enormous beautiful apple trees in their yard. I was heartbroken. Now they're talking about cutting them down altogether.
You're making it sound like a bad thing. This is a very healthy thing you can do for the tree if it's done right. Please don't spread this ignorance
Please explain the health benefits? This sounds far more ignorant.
@@jfrazz9729 this is just strange. All the comments sound like bots tf is going on?
Many explained reasons in the video describe why this IS A BAD THING (e.g. creating weak branches that then tend to break and/or rub on each other causing further damage and insect/disease accessibility; physiologically stressing the tree - which may end up killing it) and the explanation given in the creator's comment (that his info is based on long-standing and well-cited research). I am not a bot. I can't imagine that bots are actually involved in a topic like this anyway.
What is your source? All of the authoritative sources and scientific research shows that this is a bad thing. There’s no proper way to “top” a tree. Are you maybe thinking of pollarding? Check the description for more info and sources.
@@christianz-jg2bh1) you didn’t answer my question
2) you deflected and made a confusing accusation against bots
3) just own up that you are either the bot or the one who is ignorant
4) answer the question about how this is bad information from the content creator. Which it is not. He’s a certified arborist. I’m a horticulturist who works closely with arborists professionally
This is not meant to shame, merely to educate, both video and comments.
Come to our side. We have tree cookies… 🤪
My dad says the same thing. He got angry when he saw my neighbors landscaper doing that. People should be educated about this because the tree grows back with horrible growth. :(
It usually isn't a homeowner doing this. It's almost always tree trimming companies hired bty electric service companies.
This is what universal studios did to the trees out front of their property in the middle of summer.
Tell that to our local utility.
See this all the time here in Australia, particularly where local councils have planted trees under overhead power cables
This happened to my tree but it wasn't by choice my wife's grandfather cut it because he didn't like how one branch got close to the house. I was not very happy coming home to a chopped tree.
Super common in my local cities/towns, I've always thought it looked super ugly and was cruel to the trees.
You clown
Side note: certain species handle this better than others, however it has to be done properly, which is called pollarding. Sycamores handle it well but each year the limbs must be cut back to the same point without removing the pollard head.
You should discuss the history of this. In England, probably a century or more ago, too many trees had been removed and it became a hanging offense to cut down trees. But they needed heating wood. So they began cutting off portions for burning without removing the whole tree.
Having said that, if a client asks me to top their tree, I explain why it's bad. If they insist, they're no longer my client. I'm not contributing to a rotting liability in their yard and I'm not perpetuating a problematic practice.
My biggest complaint on current land scaping practices.
Crews drive around our region just offering to prune your trees and then leave you with this mess.
It's a quick way for them to make money and thats tgere true focus. 💰
I notice since moving here how there's always an unusual amount of trees that get blown over on storms. Lack of proper tree care. Sad.
I cry for those poor trees.
The state came and cut it like that, they said the branches were getting to close to the power lines. 🤷
People actually think this is what you’re supposed to do to crepe myrtles. Like, people think they require this
We had new neighbor cut down most of the trees on their property. You are free to do what you want, but if you dont want trees in your yard then dont move into a estiblished neighbor full of 70 yo pecan trees.
Maybe the trees were bad but they are the only house in the neighbor to remove their trees.
Yes the council doing in our street and the big maple started dying......
You should show what Warner Brothers or Universal or one of the studios did to all of their trees where people were striking during the writers strike
I was going to have my maple tree topped. I got two estimates. One landscaper told me it's good for the tree and gave me a price. The other landscaper told me it's bad for the tree and refused to do the job. I went with the second guy.
Good choice! If you're looking to reduce the size of your tree, have an experienced ISA-certified arborist do a "crown reduction" prune.
You forgot the other reason people do this: to deliberately give striking workers heatstroke.
Great video, thanks!
Someone needs to give the city and county instructions when they are cutting the middle of the trees out b/c of power lines.😊
Never understood why they plant trees right under powerlines
Ive seen tress getting mini branches get cut every fall, and they have those wierd gigantic knots. It was very common in france.
As long as you're cutting off the first year growth, you're fine. Cutting in the middle of a big branch though, that branch won't recover.
Thanks for explaining! I'm in the unique position of having an arborist neighbour, who promises to help but then gets busy (& won't let me pay him)! If i hire someone else he'll be offended. So I'm trying to learn enough to sneakily keep things under control 😅
Going to try to ask him to teach me. Only problem is i have adhd & have banned myself from ever using a chainsaw
I see a lot of my neighbors do this to their trees every year. I’ve always thought “that must be bad for the tree and it looks horrible”.
You are deeply loved & appreciated 🥰😘🙏🏼🤍🤑💲🆙👌🏼✨
we unfortunately had to top the tree on the sidewalk in front of our house because there was a parasite plant feeding on it and killing it, and it started growing new branches *from the bottom*
she looks a mess but I love her
My city's Dept of Urban Forestry needs to see this.
The sad part about it that was a sycamore tree and to me sycamore trees are just really sacred
Woah
Had no idea - this is standard in my area - both private property trees and council maintained trees.
I've seen this for years. Glad yo know a bit more about this. 🤔👍