To most people, there’s no difference between tree pruning and tree lopping. What they’ve never realized is that tree lopping is a pruning exercise that has harmful effects on trees. Tree lopping is a common practice among homeowners despite being a harmful pruning technique. What is it exactly? Well, this is a pruning technique that involves cutting off lateral tree branches to reduce the size of a tree. Those who utilize this method argue that it helps to deal with the safety issues posed by large trees on their property.
It’s important to note that tree lopping may be necessary at times especially when the goal is to improve the health of a tree. In this case, tree lopping allows a tree to be pruned back to its healthy state before it can re-grow from there. Lopping is also used to thin out the tree’s canopy to allow sunlight to get through and reach smaller plants. This must, however, done without compromising the structural integrity of the trees. Even with such benefits, lopping has its disadvantages. Here are some of the reasons why you should avoid tree lopping.
It Stresses Trees
The leaves are of great significance when it comes to the growth and health of a tree. Tree lopping usually involves removing between 50 and 100 percent of the leaf-bearing crown which leaves the tree stressed. After lopping a tree, you’ll see it activating latent buds which in turn force the growth of multiple shoots. This are survival mechanisms whereby the tree is trying to generate a new crop of leaves. Tree lopping leaves the tree in a vulnerable state which means insects and diseases can easily infest it.
It Causes Decay
While it may serve as a temporary fix for aesthetic reasons, tree lopping will leave large wounds which trees can’t heal or close. When pruning, one is supposed to cut just beyond the collar of a branch at its point of attachment. The wound that remains at this point can easily heal as trees are biologically equipped with a mechanism to close such a wound. The wounds left when lateral branches are cut expose the wood to decay which spreads down through the branches. The tree eventually dies as a result of the decay.
Tree Lopping Creates Hazards
The new shoots that develop after cutting lateral branches usually grow and develop very quickly. As mentioned, this is a survival mechanism. The problem is that the shoots are not as strong as other branches can break during windy conditions. What was being done to make your tree safer might end up making it more hazardous than before.
Lopping Exposes a Tree to Sunburn
In addition to making food, leaves provide protection to the tree from constant assault from the sun. They absorb most of the heat and light coming from the sun. When you lop your trees, you reduce the number of leaves thereby exposing it to the full glare of the sun. This can cause the back of the tree splitting, some of the branches dying or even lead to cankers.
When you’re looking to find a professional to take care of your trees, we suggest you start with the Tree Contractors Association Of Australia to find a reputable & suitably qualified operator.
Trees are known for their importance in the environment and even for us and while some people think that having them in our backyard is truly great, but sometimes they do not realize that having a tree or trees in our property is a very big responsibility.
Issues that might arise from having a tree on your property is when you decide to have it removed because it became dangerous or for aesthetical reasons. Whatever the situation is, the good side is there is that there are tree removal services that can aid you with this issue. But before you decide to do a tree removal, here are some things you should know:
Are you allowed to remove the tree? Make sure that you are allowed to remove the tree by going to your local council regulations and finding if you need to get their approval before you take down the tree.
Is the tree removal going to impact the environment? Make sure you are not going to cause damage to the environment before you decide to cut down a tree. Trees provide a lot of great benefits such as providing us with clean air, giving us a great shade in the summer, fruits that we can enjoy during its season, and a host to different small animals and birds.
Should you just cut off some branches? Instead of removing the tree itself, why not just ask an arborist if a better option is to just remove some branches especially if is obstructing your view or if some branches fell during a storm.
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Trees play a significant role in taking care of our land, the animals around us and of course, us. They provide us materials for our homes, protect us from the sun and they mostly give us food. They are truly valuable that we should not take for granted.
With its many fascinating characteristics, here are some facts we can learn from them.
Trees are very important but they are often times endangered mostly because of people. We need to help trees because our future mostly relies on them. If you are thinking of cutting a tree or just simply prune them, contact a professional arborist so that they can properly assess your tree’s needs.
Having trees around your property add beauty and value. To keep them look good and healthy, it is important to give them proper care. To get the best tree care, homeowners hire an arborist to trim them.
Hiring a
n inexperienced tree guy may do more harm than good. Doing the tree work yourself also comes with the possibility of risking injury to you and others or damage to a nearby property. It is important the find the right tree care specialist do the tree work. You can expect a job well done when you let the professionals do tree services for you.
How To Choose The Right Tree Guy
When needing help for your trees, the first thing that you need to do is to look for companies that send certified tree care specialists because not all tree service companies offer certified tree personnel. You can search for companies with good reputation and ratings in websites like Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List and other customer review sites.
A reliable company should provide you with proof of insurance. This is important so you know that they will be liable in case of a work-related accident and any damage that may happen.
An honest and reliable company should be able to provide you with a written estimate and not just a verbal agreement. The work coverage and the estimated cost should be clearly indicated in the written agreement. An honest company will not proceed with any additional work without the permission of the customer.
Also, many people fail to consider the post tree work cleaning. A reliable company will discuss the clearing of the site after the tree work. You need to know if this service is included or they charge extra for it.
Another indicator of a reliable tree service provider is its experience in the industry. A company’s experience and expertise should be very reliable. Long years of service is one of the indicators of a reliable tree service company.
Whether it is a small or big tree work, the arborist must have the proper equipment. Make sure the company you choose is well-equipped to get the tree work done right.
Arborists are people who take care and maintain plants and trees while also ensuring that they do not interfere with power lines, sidewalks and roads.
You can also consider calling arborist services if you are in the business of trees and in need to improve the health, appearance and value of your plants.
Why Get an Arborist
Tree work can be a tedious job. You will need to properly maintain them by pruning them, study their growth, and even prevent them from having diseases. You will be much like a tree doctor if you want to do it on your own.
If you do hire an arborist, that individual will be in charge of tree pruning, removal, and planting. You can even get their help when storms and heavy winds cause damage to them.
What They Can Do For You
Pruning. Trees can have some dead wood which can invite insects such as termites to infest. Arborists can avoid such a problem since they know that pruning can help the health of the tree and remove unwanted branches.
Planting. Arborists know where to properly place a tree and where they can benefit long term.
Removal. Your arborist will recommend removal only as a last resort. They mostly have the proper tools and equipment and the skills to remove the tree safely.
Respond to emergencies. If trees caused damage to your property because of heavy winds and storms, an arborist can handle the situation and fix the problem right away.
We all know that trees help us to sustain the life of humans on this planet. Without trees to recycle our carbon dioxide back into oxygen, we would be no more than just a distant memory.
Even though everyone that has more than a fourth grade education knows this to be true, all around the world, deforestation is now more of a major concern than ever before.
Of course, with an ever increasing population in just about every country, one of the harsh realities is that we need to continue clearing land and making way for development to accommodate people into new home, plus also the development of further infrastructure.
In some countries, they are very conscious of the issues surrounding the decline in the number of trees on the earth. The forward thinking countries of the world will often have programs in place to combat the issue, where they will make private enterprises replant trees in the cases where they have removed or destroyed trees to make way for development of residential and commercial neighbourhoods.
This is of course the most responsible avenue to allow continued development yet also continue to be environmentally responsible.
