Dealing with Topped Trees

This Western Red Cedar had been deemed a 'Heritage Tree'. It was located on the grounds of a 110 year old church. The tree had to be removed due to historic topping and subsequent failure of a leader and severe internal decay.

The Reality of dealing with topped trees

If you read my last post you'd know that I think topping is bad. I hope you agree with me though I realize that not everyone does. The practise is still pretty common. The reality is that if tree topping were to stop tomorrow once and for all, we would still be dealing with the aftermath for many years into the future.

Here's the common scenario:
Tree gets topped--Multiple new tops grow--Tree decays--Tops fail--Premature end of tree

Dealing with a topped tree is like having a blown engine in a car.

It's never going to be as good as it was.

Caused by Ignorance
You blew engine because you forgot to check the oil. The oil ran dry and the engine runs way too hot. The engine is toast.

You have two choices:

1. Replace the engine (though you just know it will never be the same) .......... or
2. Get rid of it

Caused by Ignorance
The tree was topped because the topper didn't know the proper way to do the job.

The topped tree is similar in that it is never going to be quite as good as it used to be. You can try to fix it but you just know that from now on you will have nothing but problems. It's going to need a lot more maintenance; from expensive mechanics.. or should I say tree professionals.

Again two choices with the tree:

1. Top it again..... and again..... and again........  or
2. Get rid of it.

And so the story goes with topped tree after topped tree. So many issues and problems stem from this  scenario. How do we get away from this situation?

This is a problem worth thinking about.

For now lets just stop the topping.