Rant: People need to stop topping trees and calling it 'pruning'

I was out on a job in Oakville last Tuesday and saw a crew working on a big old maple. They were cutting everything down to stubs, no collar cuts, just hacking off the tops. The homeowner came over and said they were 'pruning for safety.' No, that's not pruning, that's butchering a tree and setting it up for rot and weak regrowth. I've been in this trade for 12 years and I still see this everywhere. How do you even talk sense into a client who thinks a topped tree looks fine? Anyone else run into this where the customer fights you on proper cuts?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_kelly4d ago

Ugh don't even get me started. I've had homeowners argue with me that the tree looks "fine" right after I explained it's going to sprout a bunch of weak water sprouts that'll snap in the first storm. What's worked for me is pulling out my phone right there and showing them photos of topped trees that split five years later. Most people just don't know better, they see those flat cuts and think it's neat and tidy. I always tell them straight up that proper pruning keeps the tree healthy long term, while topping is just wasting their money on future removal costs.

grant.parker2d ago

Ran into a guy last spring who was dead set on having his oak "limbed up" so high it looked like a palm tree. Told him it was gonna stress the tree out and he just said "well it looks cleaner." Some people just want that parking lot look I guess and you can't talk em out of it.