This is your annual warning as you start to prune trees!!!

GARDEN PATCH POINTERS
Robert H. and Hoberley Schuler, Master Gardeners

This is your annual warning as you start to prune trees!!!

Q: We need to prune some of our trees throughout the yard to bring in more light during the winter months. Can the tops be removed as well as the longer side branches?

A: Don’t Top Trees!

When planning for the trees in your garden, it is best to include some deciduous trees if possible to let the light into your property in the winter. You will save yourself future aggravation and money if you consult with an arborist for the best ideas on pruning. Check with your city for more guidelines to tree trimming.

Now that fall and winter approaches, the senseless brutalizing of older trees is more prevalent. There is a plague striking our trees, from the city’s parkway trees to private residence’ trees.

Alternative’s to topping are:

1. Start out right by planting trees that will fit your available space when they reach maturity.
2. Begin proper pruning early in the life of the tree.
3. To slow the growth of the tree, avoid excess use of nitrogen fertilizer and over watering.
4. Prune properly and regularly. A light pruning every three years will help to keep your tree in a healthy condition. It will also have less drastic effects on both the landscape and your financial assets compared with neglecting older trees or resorting to topping.
5. Topping causes unnecessary stress and increased risk to the tree’s health. The results pose a danger from rot and weakly attached re-growth. In short, as one arborist said, “Topping is the absolute worst thing you can do for the health of your tree.”

Why Not to Top – Eight Good Reasons

1. Starvation: Good pruning practices rarely remove more than ¼ to 1/3 of the crown. Topping removes so much of the crown that it upsets an older tree’s well-developed crown-to-root ratio and temporarily cuts off its food-making ability.
2. Shock: A tree’s crown is like an umbrella that shields much of the tree from the direct rays of the sun. By suddenly removing this protection, the remaining bark tissue is so exposed that scalding may result. There may also be a dramatic effect on neighboring trees and shrubs. If these thrive in shade and the shade is removed, poor health or death may result.

3. Insects and Disease: The large stubs of a topped tree have a difficult time forming callus and prevents the tree’s chemically based natural defense system from doing its job. The stubs are highly vulnerable to insect invasion and to decay fungi.

4. Weak Limbs: At best, the wood of a new limb that sprouts after a large limb is truncated is more weakly attached than a limb that develops more normally.

5. Rapid New growth: The goal of topping is usually to control the height and spread of a new tree. Actually, it has the opposite effect. The resulting sprouts are far more numerous than normal new growth and they elongate so rapidly that the tree returns to its original height in a very short time and with far more density and a dangerous crown.

6. Tree Death: Some species of trees are less tolerant to topping. Severe pruning and reduced foliage may lead to the death of the tree.

7. Ugliness: A topped tree is a disfigured tree. Even with its regrowth, it never regains the grace and character of a valuable asset.

8. Cost: To a worker with a saw, topping a tree is much easier than applying the skill and judgment needed for good pruning. Therefore, topping may
cost less in the short run, but the true costs of topping include: reduced
property value, the expense of removal and replacement if the tree dies, the
loss of other trees and shrubs if they succumb to changed light conditions,
the risk of liability from weakened branches, and increased future
maintenance.

So, remember, plant a tree and keep it healthy. In return, you will help beautify your city for the present as well as the future. A properly pruned tree can help your property value when you get ready to sell!

Have a garden question? Contact rhschuler@frontier.com

Robert H. Schuler
Master Gardener

GARDEN PATCH POINTERS
Robert H. and Hoberley Schuler, Master Gardeners
Oregon State University Master Gardeners; NGC & CGCI
Garden Study and Landscaping Design, Master Consultants