Posted by steven on August 12, 19100 at 14:31:13:
In Reply to: white paper birch tree posted by Patty on August 12, 19100 at 13:16:34:
: I have a clump of three birch trees that are about 50' tall and they are casting too much shade on our pool, so we would like to top them or as it is called, (crown reduction.)
I live in zone 3/4. Can you tell me how much I can take off the top before I would be damaging the tree.
Dear Patty,
You cannot top the tree without causing damage to it. Crown reduction is a nice way to say butchery.
But, I understand your dilemna. You can top the trees without causing immediate death.
As long as you have live branches with foliage below the cut, the trees will live and will sprout new leaders near or below the cut.
The cut will be an entry way for disease and insects. The trees will eventually succumb and die sooner than if you had not cut the trees.
Perhaps you should eventually consider replacing the birches with trees or shrubs for which the mature height will not be a problem for the pool.
steven
http://www.plantamnesty.org/6024_pages/old_gold_archives/ptTruthTreeTopping.shtml
"THE TRUTH ABOUT TREE TOPPING"
"Long standing practices (however erroneous), as well as recent advertisements in this newspaper, have perpetuated the myth that topping your trees is a form of pruning. It is not. Tree topping Is often used in an ill-fated attempt to save both a tree and a neighbor's view, ruining both in the end. Topping is neither a solution, nor a compromise."
http://www.chesco.com/~treeman/topping1.html
"Topping is the removal of vertical leader stems on large trees and usually made between nodes or at internodes. Tipping is the internodal cut on large lateral branches. "
"No matter how we make the cuts tipping and topping cause serious injury to the tree. A very big misconception is that if we top the tree it will be safer. Topping greatly increases the tree of being a risk of a hazard. Topping is the biggest money wasting practice in the world. It also is illegal in some counties in some states. It is a crime against nature. Topping is a worldwide tree mutilation practice. The main reason is that people do not understand how trees function. "