One of the most common tree maintenance services is pruning. You might be wondering why you have to prune your trees when they grow fine in the forest. This is because they get natural pruning from being so close together. Whereas trees in our yards need more care because they aren’t as close together. Keeping up with your tree maintenance helps them to keep their structural integrity while making them look more aesthetically pleasing. When pruning a tree, the proper techniques are extremely necessary otherwise you risk damaging or killing your tree. Our team at Five Star Tree Services is going to discuss the two main types of tree pruning which are topping and pollarding.
Topping
Just like it sounds, this technique involves removing the entire top half of the tree. When this is done, branches and trunks are removed from the top of the tree. Stubs and lateral branches can be left as long as they are too weak or small and will not assume the role of a principal branch. A lot of different tree species do not respond well to this pruning technique. In most cases, after it has been performed, the tree will die or be left severely damaged. There is a common misconception that topping helps the tree get more sunlight. However, this is not actually true for most trees. Sun scalding can happen when a tree is overexposed to sunlight and will cause death. Another common misconception is that topping helps growth. But this is not true either. Yes, you will see more growth after it is done but this is a tree’s natural response to losing leaves.
Pollarding
This technique involves trimming that helps control the natural shape and size of a tree. It can be very useful when trying to have a uniform landscape of rounded canopies. Pollarding is designed to encourage tree growth to be in a specific size and shape. This is particularly useful for any trees needing to be kept smaller than their full growth. Certain reasons dictate if a tree is allowed to grow fully or in a certain way. These include space restrictions from power lines, fences, other trees, and other limiting space from other impediments. The technique of pollarding involves cutting off the central leader but leaving the lateral branches at the same height within a few feet of the crown of the tree. The lowest branch height can be kept at 6 feet above the ground or a little higher to keep animals from eating any new growth. You can only complete this pruning while the tree is dormant during the winter or early spring.
How To Choose
When given the choice, most people pick pollarding over topping. Young trees in particular benefit more from pollarding as it promotes better and faster regrowth. When comparing the two techniques, it’s clear the topping is more harmful and dangerous to the trees. It weakens them and even causes death in most trees. And even if there is regrowth, it becomes a problem.
How Five Star Tree Services Can Help
Our tree care specialists at Five Star Tree Services can help you with your tree pruning needs. Our team is very knowledgeable in all techniques and will be able to make the right decision that is best for your tree and you. If you would like to use our tree pruning services in Toronto, make sure to give us a call at (416) 990-3355!