Am I the only one who thinks topping trees is sometimes the right call?

Last month I was doing a removal in Boulder and the neighbor asked me to top their 40 foot silver maple because they were scared of a limb over the driveway. I told them topping is butchery and refused, then the next storm dropped that exact limb on their car and I felt awful about it. Now I'm second guessing myself, because yeah topping is bad practice and creates weak growth, but is losing a car worse than a hacked up tree? Most of the older guys I know say never top, period, but a few say a bad cut is better than a crushed roof. Where do you all draw the line on this?

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charles_chen9313d ago

Been in that spot before and what saved me was offering the neighbor options instead of just saying no. Tell them you can do a proper crown reduction on that one limb, cabling, or a light thin, and let them pick, because that way you're not the guy who killed their tree and you're not the guy who left a bomb hanging over the driveway. Topping might feel like the safe answer in the moment, but the weak regrowth comes back fast and uglier, so a targeted prune usually gets you most of the risk drop without the hack job.

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