A Master Arborist Discusses Tree Topping

is crowning the same as topping? it was suggested to do this on my silver maple

In Sweden they do it everywhere on a periodic basis and call it pollarding. A real shock to your system when you see it.

Topping trees the must be hell of a reason, who does it should have not ever and ever hold chainsaw in hand and does our job … 😂 this type of cut makes the trees even more dangerous and just destroying their habitat 😢

Information ℹ

Yep..some customers want them hacked. But can't do it .I did do crape murder for one.but..also it's dangerous climbing regrowth on maple and species like it.very deceptive ..great video boss ..people are strange when comes to trees.

I needed that, thanks again.

Guess they were looking for some fresh apples outside the state building with all that pollarding

Very much needed video. Thanks so much I've been telling people time and time again to not top their trees, but didn't really know the best way to fix the problem after it's already topped. Very helpful

Enjoyed the video. Yes, found it very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing.

There are trees like this all around me. Seems to be a common thing. I try to articlate to the customers that topping is a bad option, some of them actually ask for topping as a service. Seems like I'm talking to wall sometimes. There are so many silver maples that are topped around me. That's a majority of the removals I do. I did not know that about locust being resistant to decay I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the info!

Good info and a productive discussion to have about pruning practices and balancing the wants of the client with what’s best for the tree.

Thank you Master Hamm! These videos are extremely interesting to me, as we don't have a great deal of species diversity in my area. Ponderosa, pinion, gamble oak, a few Doug Fir, cottonwood and five species of shaggy bark cedar, including one with the second deepest taproot systems known to man.

One of my biggest pet peeves is topped trees. I feel like restoring tree canopies is a quarter of my work. Another quarter is removing hazard trees that can't be restored due to extreme rot from topping.
Thanks for helping inform folks.

So cool an awesome to see this!

Hey Kevin in the case of the maple , what would have been the correct procedure to do. I'm assuming the tree was healthy but the client didn't like its proximity to the house. Is it a case of all or nothing (removal or leave as is/thinning). Always enjoy the more cerebral content.

Your the man !

There are so many hacks in my area. You never have to look far to find a topped tree

What about topping evergreens?