Hot take: crown reduction vs. topping - Had a guy at the equipment rental place swear topping is fine on old oaks

2 comments

2 Comments

That guy at the rental place must've been talking about some specific situation, because I've got a 60 year old live oak in my backyard that I had to get opinions on a few years back and every single certified arborist I talked to said topping an oak is basically inviting death by rot and weak regrowth. They all said the same thing about how the tree puts out those water sprouts that look okay for a year or two then get all heavy and snap off in a storm. I actually had one guy pull out his phone and show me pictures of a topped oak that split right down the middle during a normal rainstorm, almost took out the guy's fence and shed. So yeah, no way I'm buying that topping is fine on old oaks, especially not on something with that much wood mass that's been growing for decades with its own branch structure.

seth_green8524d ago

Right there with you. Those water sprouts are nothing but trouble waiting to happen on an old oak.