Bad Reasons for Cutting Trees

Top Branch Pruning

• Utility companies fighting for years to keep trees out of power lines learned that the tree's response was to produce more suckers and grow faster. This vigorous growth is rampant and weakly attached to the tree, which means in breaks easily in winds. This growth also comes back so thickly that it shades the rest of the tree. This compromises the tree's health. Utility workers found they returned repeatedly to keep the tree in check. This often killed the tree. The solutions were to plant trees that don't grow tall enough to interfere with utility lines or not plant them at all.

Topping Trees

• Topping trees is one of the worst things to do to reduce a tree's size. Topping, which is removing of large limbs back to small branches, causes branches to die or decay. Vigorous sprouts to grow from the cut ends. These sprouts become very large and heavy and may break during high winds. Insects and diseases can enter the cuts.

Size Reduction

• Severely cutting trees because they are growing too large for the space is a poor solution. Regularly removing 25 percent of a tree every few years for size control eventually kills the tree. Replace the tree with a species that does not grow as large.

View

• Obstructing a view is not a good reason to cut a tree. The tree may grow up and above the view. Professional photographers know the benefit of having panoramic views framed by tree branches. If this is not an option, then only selectively cut a few branches rather than shortening the whole tree, or remove it altogether.