Topping. Why is it so hard, not to take it personal?

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The auction yard where we normally drop our trees off, has suddenly put up a sign saying that spur damage is not appreciated on Cryptomeria removals. You can't even use them on condemned trees now. Aluminum steps henceforth.
 
I know that I'm fortunate to live in a place where most of the topped trees are restricted to commercial parking lots, apartment complexes, and such. Most residential work is non-topped, maybe 1 in 100.
 
Knotahippie said:
I try not to top beyond 3" diameter or 10 year old wood; sometimes that's still a lot of tree.
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This makes a lot of sense. If they want a smaller tree, give them a smaller tree. But draw the line at big wounds on old wood.

Crown reduction is ok for the tree if done right--so just do it!
 
I took these pictures up at the castle today.
These linden were topped about 200 years ago and pollarded each year ever since. P1000378.JPG P1000379.JPG
 
I love that. I am tempted to pollard a crab apple in my front yard. I just don't want to look at it hacked up, or be "that tree guy" with the hacked up tree in the front yard.

I am doing it to one of my parents crab apples, and this ornamental cherry we planted next to the house. Luckily you can't see if from the curb though. :|:
 
It works really well with certain species and in the right circumstances. I'll be doing these again in December or January. Good screen for the guy to the road.
These are on a 2-3 year schedule depending on growth. P1010317.JPG P1010322.JPG

I have an old apple down by the miners shack I would like to try it on ...
 
2-3 year schedule is the normal way, here.
But when you can afford to do it every year ( they have a full time gardener at the castle) you get less scarring and much nicer "burls".

Also you keep the tree from getting any bigger.
Those lindens are at least 200 years old ( I'll ask the owner next time I see her) but not much over 12" thick.

Yours are going to look real fine in 20 years or so. They are thickening very well around the ends.

Did you start them out, or are you taking over from someone else?
 
I took these over. They owner could not get the guy that had done them past back as he was injured (chainsaw) at the time. Cake job too. Excellent clean up crew as some here may recall :D

I inherited some mimosa ( Albizia julibrissin? ) this year as well on two different accounts. Same kind of situation.
 
I like to give my customers an analogy. I ask them to pretend they had a cat who was scratching the furniture, and so took it to their veterinarian and asked the vet to amputate all 4 of the cat's legs. Then I ask them how they would feel about the veterinarian who said "Sure! The customer is always right. I will do anything you want as long as you pay me." It's a good analogy because the chances are good the vet could do the procedure without killing the cat, and also because there are more effective alternatives that won't turn the cat into a horrible mutant.

Then I give them the phone # for a friend of mine who will do anything for money with a clear conscience.
 
Lol, that's funny.

I can't remember making a inter-nodal topping cut on any of my jobs with my name on the truck. Although the end of this year I did a hard reduction on some Red Maple's. They will be maintained for light penetration on the pool. I did make proper cuts though. :)

As for where I work part time, a few times I was told to hammer to it, it's what they want. He has a different business mentality than I, but I was the cutter. One of them I called a habitat snag.

One was a gorgeous, very old weeping Cherry. Man was it nice. Guy was all of a sudden afraid it was going to fall on the house, no chance. I told him before hand, it's been here over 50 years, and hasn't hit the house, but he didn't want to hear it. On top of it, he sent the fert. crew out there, weeks later to liquid fertilize it. It's going to be a hot mess this spring.
 
I hate topping trees, I avoid it like the plague. Unfortunately our work order sheets have 3 options, top, prune or remove. I have stopped as many topping jobs as I can out here, even gone behind my bosses back to do so, but they still get sent our way. They don't send me out on the topping jobs anymore, but I am employed by someone who has no qualms about it and not only continues to do it but continues to sell it. So, I am complicit in it...I walk as much as I can, but my kids have this bad habit of eating and sleeping in a house. One of these days I'll get off this dang ranch and then I won't have to think about it anymore. I'm pretty good at the no-topping spiel, and even if people press me I simply do a crown reduction anyways. Once I'm on the ground I say, well our part is finished. If you want someone to come and top it, then phone somebody else.
 
Topping, by definition, is an indiscriminate heading cut - Likely, it's internodal.
 
I'm going to amputate a cat for a customer. A corkscrew willow that should be just removed, that the customer wants to build a treehouse in the center of. The middle will go and the out fringe will remain in a sort of friar tuck fringe. The tree will die and the customer knows it. I think he sees it as an art project. I see it as a staged removal.
 
in the past ive gotten rooked into toping a tree here and a tree there. I decided on Jan 1 I am not topping any more. Ive turned down about 2 or 3 jobs since the first of the year. I know ill have more too. I do have some fruitless mulberries to do that ive done for about 4 yrs now but since its back to the last cut, im considering it to be called pollarding.
 
Knotahippie said:
Shaping.

Dangerous Removals.

Stump Grinding.

Cat Pillows.
Click to expand...

sotc said:
Nearly a complete thread eh?
Click to expand...

I am trying to think of what we left out
thinking-idea-animated-animation-sm.gif
 
Pollarding? Well if you keep cutting off the cats paws every year after they grow back, its OK.
 
So, on a decurrent tree, wouldn't cutting the ends back on lower lateral branches be 'topping'?

Just wondering.
 
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