That talk about topping oaks at the conference got me thinking

I was at the regional meeting last Saturday and this younger guy said topping oaks is never okay for any reason. I get that it's usually bad but he was so absolute about it. I've been doing tree work for 22 years now and I've seen old oaks that were topped back in the 80s still standing healthy. We had a storm last June that took half a crown off a big red oak and the homeowner wanted us to just cut it even instead of removing it. That tree is still leafing out fine and providing shade. I think there are rare cases where a careful reduction is better than taking the whole tree down. Has anyone else here had a situation where a light topping actually worked out?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_thompson4d ago

Man, my neighbor topped a 70 year old white oak back in 2017 after a lightning strike split the main leader. I told him he was crazy, said the tree would rot out in five years. Well it's 2024 now and that oak is still standing strong, throwing shade over his whole back deck. I've seen the crown fill back in nicely, even if it looks a little funky from the road. Ngl, it made me rethink my whole stance on never topping anything. I still wouldn't do it on a healthy tree, but I can see the logic now for saving a mature tree instead of just yanking it out.

anna9834d ago

People always talk about the tree itself but nobody mentions the roots. That oak has been in the ground for 70 years, so its root system is massive and deep. When you top a tree like that, the roots don't just shrink overnight. They keep feeding what's left above ground for years, which is probably why his neighbor's tree is still doing okay. The real test will be another decade from now when those roots finally start to match the new canopy size. He might get lucky and the tree finds a new balance, or it could get top heavy and fall apart in a bad storm.