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Home > Frequently Asked Questions > What is topping a tree?

What is topping a tree?

A: Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of tree branches to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to assume the terminal role. Other names for topping including “heading,” “tipping,” “hat-racking,” and “rounding over.”

Topping is perhaps the most harmful tree pruning practice known. It is usually done to reduce the size of a tree. Often, homeowners top their trees because they feel that they have become too large for their property and are a hazard. However, topping will make a tree more hazardous in the long term and is very harmful to the health of a tree.

More Information:

Why Topping Hurts Trees

	News
	Warning: Check Tree-care Credentials Several autumn fatalities linked to dangerous tree care practices are prompting a coalition of arborists and urban foresters to urge contractors (and others) to hire only certified tree-care professionals. MORE >> Best Trees For The Street Scientist John Hammond of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency, has announced the findings of a four-year project to determine the best trees to use in urban spaces. MORE >> Selling Houses By the Yard Worried home owners hope landscaping adds value- from the Wall Street Journal MORE >> NADF Hardiness Zone Map Find out the right tree to plant where you live MORE >>

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself." - William Blake, 1979 The Letters

	Resources
	Why Topping Hurts Trees Brochure Available through the ISA Web store Topless Trees Are Indecent Trees must be pruned sometimes to avoid interference with utility lines, buildings, or parts of the surrounding environment. Whenever pruning to reduce a tree's size is required, avoid the harmful practice of topping. MORE >>