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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
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"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 >>
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