Taking care of your trees during the summer heat ensures a vibrant and healthy landscape. Here are six essential tips for summer tree care: Mulching: It’s not too late to mulch. Mulching reduces weed competition, stabilizes soil temperatures, and conserves moisture. Use three to four inches of shredded hardwood mulch. Form a donut shape […]
5 Reasons to Stop Topping Your Trees
Stop, Drop, Don’t Top
- Topping a tree causes immediate injury and leaves large, open wounds which expose the tree to decay, pest infestations, and disease. This ultimately results in a weaker tree and an earlier death of the tree. Weaker trees drop limbs and uproot easier in a storm or high wind, potentially causing damage to homes, vehicles, garages, and more.
- Leaves provide the health and energy for the tree. When a tree is topped, 50% – 100% of the leaves are removed, which starves the tree of vital nutrients. Without the proper nutrition, the tree cannot heal the large wounds or fight off pest infestations (as mentioned above).
- Topping leads to unwelcome risk. Many new shoots will emerge from buds near the surface of the old branch. Unlike normal branches that grow slower and deeper into the layers of the tree, new shoots grow quickly and on the outermost layers of the tree. This creates a weak attachment, and as the new limbs grow larger, their attachment location grows weaker, resulting in easy breakage and dropping of limbs. While the goal may have been to reduce the size of the tree, you’ve created a new risk that can lead to property damage, more stress, and insurance claims.
- Trees that have been topped are ugly. Topping destroys the natural shape of the tree and can actually decrease your home value and curb appeal. Because topping removes the ends of branches and their leaves, the tree will look mutilated for up to six months before leaves begin to grow again. A tree that has been topped will never regain its natural form.
- There are hidden costs to topping a tree, making it an expensive (and unnecessary) waste of money. First, you have increased liability potential because topping is considered an unacceptable pruning practice. Damages from branch failure of a topped tree may lead to a finding of negligence in a court of law. Next, if the tree survives, it will likely require corrective pruning measures within a few years. If the tree dies, you’ll have to pay to have it removed. And lastly, reduced property value. Disfigured, topped trees are viewed as a corrective expense, whereas healthy, properly-maintained trees, may add up to 20% more value to a property.
Recently, Lumberjacks was featured on Local 3 News, highlighting our award-winning business and longstanding dedication to our customers and community. Since 2012, the Lumberjacks brand has focused on providing safe and efficient solutions to customers in the Chattanooga area. Founded on the principles of being transparent and trustworthy, both Lumberjacks Tree Service and Lumberjacks […]
With spring just around the corner, the questions about Bradford pear trees have started to roll in. The bottom line: These are some of the worst trees you can have on your property. Let’s break it down: Invasive Troublemakers: First, they’re not native to the area. Bradford pears may look innocent enough, but they’re […]
Dogwood anthracnose is a hazardous threat to dogwood species, including the beloved native flowering dogwood and Pacific dogwood trees. Introduced from Asia in the late 1970s, this fungal pathogen, Discula destructiva, has destroyed natural populations of flowering dogwood. 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘰𝘨𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦: – Tan spots with irregular purple margins on leaves, which progress upwards […]
It’s a common misconception that trees on your property can thrive on their own. But here’s the reality: Your soil isn’t naturally nutrient-rich, creating a challenging environment for urban trees. Soil compaction and the absence of a natural forest ecosystem are major contributors to tree decline in cities. Trees thrive in loose soil, where […]
Did you know the best time to prune a tree depends on when they bloom? When inspecting a tree for pruning, you’ll need to know if the tree blooms on the current season’s growth or last season’s growth in order to properly care for the tree. Cherry blossoms and dogwoods are a great example of current […]
Mulch volcanoes are a common sight in gardens and landscaping, but they are actually bad for the health of trees and plants. Mulch volcanoes are created when a large amount of mulch is piled up against the trunk of a tree. This creates a cone-like shape that resembles a volcano, hence the name. When […]
Stop, Drop, Don’t Top “Topping” a tree refers to the most harmful tree pruning practice known. For over 25 years, literature, seminars, videos, webinars and more have warned against this damaging and outdated practice, though it is still commonly used among the uneducated. Topping of trees, also known as lopping, hat-racking, tipping, and […]