Why Topping a Tree Is the Worst Cut

Topping means cutting the main branches of a tree back to stubs, with no regard for where new growth will come from. It is sold as a quick way to make a tree smaller. In reality it is one of the most damaging things you can do to a tree and a waste of money.

Urban green space, from the I Hug Trees image library

What topping does

A tree depends on its leaves for food. Topping removes most of them at once, so the tree uses its stored energy to push out new shoots in a panic. These shoots, called epicormic or water sprouts, grow fast but are attached only at the surface of the wood.

They break easily in wind and storms. The tree you hoped to make safer is, in a few years, more dangerous than before.

The wounds that do not heal

Large cuts across big branches leave wide wounds that the tree cannot seal. Decay fungi enter, and rot can spread through the stub and into the trunk. On trees with thin bark, the sudden exposure to sun can also scald the newly open branches.

Over time the tree becomes hollow in the wrong places, with weak wood supporting heavy new growth. A topped tree often has to be removed within a few years.

It costs more, not less

Topped trees regrow quickly and densely, so they need cutting again every couple of years. Owners end up paying again and again for a tree that looks worse each time, and then pay for removal in the end.

Good pruning costs more at the start but keeps the tree healthy. If a tree is too big for its space, it is more honest, and often cheaper, to replace it with a smaller species suited to the spot. Our guide to choosing and caring for city trees can help with that decision.

Neighbours often ask for topping because they fear falling branches. A professional inspection can address that fear directly, by removing the genuinely weak parts and leaving the rest.

What to do instead

Ask an arborist about crown reduction. The idea is to shorten a branch by cutting back to a side branch that is at least about a third the diameter of the part being removed, so the tree keeps a natural shape and a clear growth point. Selective thinning can also let in light and lower wind load.

Pollarding is sometimes confused with topping, but it is different. It is a long-term system that starts when the tree is young and removes the same shoots on a regular cycle, and it suits only certain species. Done properly, it can keep a tree small in a tight street. Done by a tree crew with a chainsaw on an old, large tree, it is topping. A healthy canopy is worth protecting, as we show in how cutting a single tree heats up a street.

Ask any tree contractor you hire what pruning standard they follow. A good one will talk about branch collars and target branches. A company that offers to top your tree cheaply is telling you what it knows.