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What is topping a tree?

A: Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of tree branches to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to assume the terminal role. Other names for topping including “heading,” “tipping,” “hat-racking,” and “rounding over.”

Topping is perhaps the most harmful tree pruning practice known. It is usually done to reduce the size of a tree. Often, homeowners top their trees because they feel that they have become too large for their property and are a hazard. However, topping will make a tree more hazardous in the long term and is very harmful to the health of a tree.

More Information:

Why Topping Hurts Trees
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"I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!" - John Muir

Resources

Why Topping Hurts Trees Brochure

Available through the ISA Web store

Topless Trees Are Indecent
Trees must be pruned sometimes to avoid interference with utility lines, buildings, or parts of the surrounding environment. Whenever pruning to reduce a tree's size is required, avoid the harmful practice of topping. MORE >>
© International Society of Arboriculture 2009
P.O. Box 3129, Champaign, IL 61826
Email comments & questions to isa@isa-arbor.com