Declue & Sons Tree Service

Tip of the day
"STOP TOPPING"
You probably see it in your community. Tree topping - the cutting back of an older trees' limbs to an arbitrary point. People do it to promote a new flush of growth, and to get that nice rounded look to their trees. Some say the practice originated in Europe in a time when the trend was to have manicured, formal landscapes. One story attributes topping to the early need for wood-fuel, the tree outside a home could be topped every year as a source for firewood.

Let's be clear about it. Tree topping is detrimental to the trees' health, and is an unnecessary expense. An exception might be where the wrong tree has been planted in the wrong place, such as large trees planted under power lines. Here the main priority is line clearance, not the tree health. Even in these cases some companies practice Target Pruning, when done correctly, can be very beneficial and often times a crucial maintenance need. Hire an experienced arborist to prune your trees, not top them.

There are many good reasons not to top your trees:

* Starvation - tree topping removes so much foliage that it upsets the trees' crown-to-root balance and reduces its food making abilities.
* Insects and disease - topping creates, makes multiple wounds that are slow to callus over, so they are an entry way for pests.
* Weak limbs - new limbs sprout and grow rapidly from topping cuts. These poorly attached sprouts will become decayed and break easily.
* Rapid growth - new sprouts grow rapidly. A tree that is topped to reduce its size is likely to grow back where it started in a short time, or even become larger.
* Cost - topping is easier and quicker than taking the time to to prune properly, but in the long run it may be more expensive. Once started, topping must be done on a regular basis to remove new brittle growth.

" WE TAKE PRIDE IN WHAT WE DO"
Please give us a call for all your Tree Care needs.