06/04/2026
Before you decide to have your trees hacked by a local tree company obsessed with topping as a viable "pruning option", please keep in mind the following factual explanation of what actually happens:
As an arborist-minded explanation, "topping" a tree is one of the most damaging practices that can be done to a mature tree.
Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of large branches or the main stem back to stubs, usually to reduce height. It is often done because someone wants a tree smaller, safer, or farther from utility lines. Ironically, it tends to create the very problems it was intended to solve.
Why topping is harmful
1. It starves the tree
Leaves are the tree's food factory. When a large percentage of the canopy is removed, the tree suddenly loses much of its ability to produce energy. The tree goes into survival mode.
2. It triggers weak, dangerous regrowth
In response to the stress, the tree produces numerous "water sprouts" or epicormic shoots near the cuts.
These shoots grow rapidly but are attached only to the outer layers of wood rather than developing as normal branches. As they enlarge, they become highly prone to failure.
3. It creates decay
Large topping cuts often cannot seal properly. Decay fungi enter through the wounds and begin breaking down the interior wood. The tree may appear healthy on the outside while hollowing internally.
4. It increases future maintenance costs
The vigorous regrowth means the tree quickly returns to its former height—often within a few years—but now with weaker branch attachments. This creates a cycle of repeated pruning.
5. It ruins the tree's natural form
Each species has a characteristic architecture. Topping destroys that structure, leaving an unnatural appearance that may never fully recover.
A practical analogy
Imagine amputating most of a person's fingers because their fingernails are getting too long. The problem is addressed in the crudest possible way, but the damage far exceeds the original concern.
What should be done instead?
Though topping can sometimes necessary as a last-ditch effort, we often recommend:
Crown reduction pruning (selective shortening back to appropriate lateral branches)
Crown thinning where appropriate
Structural pruning and codominate stem removals when trees are young, training for future sustainable structre.
Choosing the right species for the available space
Removal and replacement when a tree has simply outgrown its location
The leading professional organization for arboriculture, International Society of Arboriculture, considers topping an unacceptable pruning practice except in very limited circumstances such as storm damage restoration or certain specialized management systems.
There's an old saying: "Topping doesn't make a tree smaller—it makes a bigger problem later."
