Tree School 101.

    Here's a little mini-lesson about tree care that might be helpful.

    Proper pruning concepts and techniques are very important for tree health and longevity. The benefits of pruning are:

1. To clean out dead branches
2. To improve tree structure
3. To enhance vigor
4. To maintain safety
5. To reduce wind resistance
6. To increase light penetration

   When you really start to look at trees, you will notice that each species has it's own characteristics; a maple does not look like an oak; an oak does not look like an elm; an elm does not look like a poplar.Trees should be pruned properly to preserve their individual integrity. They should not be topped or "rounded over" so that they all look like round balls.

   Eight reasons not to top trees:

1. Starvation- Topping cuts off a tree's food-making ability by altering the crown to root ratio.
2. Shock- Topping removes the leafy umbrella, exposing bark tissue to sun and making it susceptable to scalding.
3. Insects- Topping leaves large stubs that cannot heal or "callous over" and are vulnerable to invasion.
4. Weak limbs- After topping, the limb that forms is more weakly attached than a limb that develops normally, and the probability of rot at the base of these limbs makes the situation worse.
5. Rapid new growth- After topping, the new sprouts that form will elongate so rapidly that the tree returns to its original height in no time with a crown that is often more dense than it was.
6. Tree death- Some trees are not tolerant to topping and the reduced foliage will surely lead to death.
7. Ugliness- The tree is disfigured and will never regain it's original characteristics. It also detracts from the winter landscape.

8. Cost- Topping may cost less at first, but then there is the hidden cost of future maintenance, eventual tree removal, and reduced property value.

   If a tree does need to be topped for a view, or if the wrong species of tree was used in the wrong location in the landscape, perhaps it can be done by "crown reduction" rather than topping. An arborist can help you.