Trades who butcher trees

Whilst shopping in the city today I was really upset to see how a couple of establishments had cut off the tops of cherry trees, namely Prunus cistena, and Bradford pears. One of them was Burger King!! The trees did not pose any threat to the public, to power lines or anything else. Just a couple of day's ago they were so beautiful and all that's left now are these ugly stumps with a handful of pathetic little blossoms trying to put on a brave show. I mean for goodness sake - if they must cut them down, then why not in the fall, not when they are putting on their one and only beautiful show of the year. Why do they do it??

We have that a lot down here, too, but it's with the crepe myrtles (crape myrtles for the purists). They get cut back drastically in some cases.

One business had a guy come out and cut the trees literally in half and I asked him what in the world he was doing. He said they wanted the "bushes" to grow more like "trees". Clueless people didn't realize that the variety they have growing is a bush variety. They won't ever grow tall. Made me sick to my stomach to see them cut back so horribly.

I'm in agreement with you!

Oh, you have really touched on one of my pet peeves. I thought it was because the locals only hired ignorant and insensitive people to prune, and they didn't know any other way. I get so sick of the sight of those stumps all over town, and the unnatural growth that results. It's even worse than the ones who have begun leaving those tiny white lights around the trunks all year. Does no one see that a tree in its natural state is a thing of beauty?

I think I will go into the establishments and ask them why they did it. Could be they think that's what they are supposed to do!! A little garden education might go a long way. We can only hope!!

This reminds me of when the power company sent out the crew of men to "clear the power lines" Granted that we have been here for about 8yrs and we have 2 hugh pecan trees that are close to the power lines. Well the company that has been cutting them back for at least 6yrs done a fair enough job at cutting the limbs back. But this last time they came out, it was a different company and needless to say they nearly killed my 2 trees!! The other men would just cut off the ends of the braches and which that was fine, but these last men that came out here...cut the limbs all the way back to the trunk of the tree!! I mean I use to have a fully shaded front yard and when they got finished I had a whole lot of sunshine!! That is why now, I refuse to plant any kind of tall growing plant or tree in that part of the yard! I think it is just a matter of the people "knowing" what they are doing that counts!

That's a crying shame Molly. Obviously the second gang hadn't got a clue, or they wanted to save themselves the trouble of doing it next year. I know how you must feel!!

I live on a state highway, and there are quite a few trees on this acreage, but none that should concern anyone else. I have been troubled in the past with crews of "tree surgeons" who actually came through my closed gates, drove up to the house, and knocked on my door. When I answered, they would tell me I had trees that needed pruning and they were interested in doing that service for me. When I asked for credentials, they would look puzzled at me and act as if I had demanded a passport. Which maybe I should have, on reflection. Many of them have assured me they were trained by the state ag offices, which offers no such training. Very few of the people who do that work have any training at all beyond how to start the chain saw. There are no basic education or experience requirements or even licensing required in Texas, anyone can be a "landscaper" or "tree surgeon" as far as what they put on a card. Our state department of agriculture doesn't become involved until there is a complaint filed, and even then, there is little they can or will do. What laws and requirements we have aren't enforced. I bought a chain saw so I can hire a laborer and then I can tell him what to do. Either he will do just that, or he will be relieved of the saw and sent on his way without pay.

That's a little frightening Aimee!! Back home we had people who 'scammed' others by saying they were roofers or could lay tarmac and such and did such an awful job of it that there was no way they could have been trained for that particular purpose. I suppose the same thing happens here and landscaping seems to be the ticket to making a fast buck!! The other irksome thing is all that mulch piled up high around the tree trunks!! Another peeve of mine is litter!! So now I'm going off thread here but I have noticed more and more litter on our highways. I see few signs to stop this awful practice and those signs that are posted should be more forceful and state how much the fine will be. It should be a hefty fine at that!!

This happens at my Mom's house on a regular basis. The town she lives in has boulevards, and the city claims them as their own, although the only care they take of them is to dump snow on them 12 feet deep and prune the trees to the point of killing them. I have hated that since I lived there. The so called 'tree trimmers' aren't anyone that knows anything about trees, just seasonal help, which is usually teenagers or college students working for minimum wage. The only things these clowns leave is the trunk!!!! Huh??? And you think this tree will live? No, it's just going to start putting up bushlike shoots in an effort to revive itself. We have had to have many trees professionally removed from the boulevards and paid to have more replanted, at Mom's expense no less.

Stepping down off my soapbox. Who wants it next?

Then surely the fault lies with the local councils!! Does it or doesn't it??

Bingo! Or, to nail it down to the usual root, politicians, who really don't care a hoot about the results of their actions, therefore don't provide for enforcement of rules, regulations and laws. Nepotism and its many cousins can be found in the same nest.

Then I shall complain and write a letter to the local rag!!

If the town your are speaking of is anything like the one my Mom lives in, then it is more than likely the city doing the damage.

Which is run by local politicians.

I also hate to see trees improperly pruned. We have a 50+ year old pear tree and due to the neglect in the garden it was way out of hand. Mother called up a couple of companies who deal with this kind of thing and several came out to give her an estimate. One chap looked at the tree, shook his head in true British workman fashion and said the Pear needed Poleaxing! Mother stood and stared at him to see if he was serious and after a short pause said, 'Don't you mean pollarding?'

We did the job ourselves in the end LOL.

lol Baa - See what I mean!!! Unless he was being sarcastic amd meant that the whole true should be removed :-)

We have about 1,000 feet of county road frontage here. About 30 feet in, we have a "buffer" of literally hundreds of trees of all manner, poplars, privot, sassafras, sweet gums, wild roses, and other junk. A few months ago, the county crews came and for 2 days the sounds of chainsaws filled the air. When the dust cleared, it looked like an atomic bomb had been dropped on our property - every single tree was removed. I'll give them credit for one thing, though, they did clean up the mess and didn't leave tall stumps. They could/should have asked permission prior to doing it, though.

On the subject of "crepe murder" (I didn't coin that phrase, btw, I read it at floridata.com), I'm in the school of thought that says that Crepe Myrtles become more attractive with some gentle pruning and removing of branches that are smaller than pencil-thin. I believe this promotes new growth, which promotes flowers (as Crepes bloom on new growth). It also opens the possibility of training the shrub as a tree by removing some of the new shoots, leaving 1-4 trunks. In the end, though, crepes are beautiful however you choose to grow them.

Other trees - there's no excuse for "tree topping". In fact, in McKinney, TX, the local gov't spent money for a local ad campaign that taught homeowners and businesses to not top trees. The slogan was "tree topping hurts" and they distributed a lot of information about what to do and what not to do when pruning any trees.

Hmmm, check this out: http://www.treedoc.com/Topping.htm

dave

Well Dave there you are!! I wondered when you would show up here :-) I can't believe tree cutting crews are allowed to do that but understand the need to keep power lines clear!! Judicious pruning of any tree is a good thing - folks just have to know how to do it!!

One of the landscape companies I worked for was good about tree topping when I started with them and I did teach a couple of the crew how to prune trees right but the owner was not inpressed and went back to his old ways.

I didn't work there long to say the least because I refused to cut trees his way.

Most companies have no clue they just hack, blow and go rutine and that is it because of time, they can get more places done that way.

It is a crime, but part of it is the places don't want to spend the money to have it done right.
Plus bad habits are hard to break.

Many of the landscape companies hire high school "kids" for minimum wage and provide no training. These are the companies the fast food businesse's use... hack and whack. They don't care how the trees look all they care about is how many Whoppers they sell.

When I discussed a pruning job with a client I would explain to them the correct it should be done; if they didn't agree I told them to use someone else.

Paul

Our city has in recent years begun requiring very specific landscaping when a property is sold, some of which makes no sense at all. This includes a certain number of a certain kind of trees, if you can imagine such a socialistic attitude! But nothing has been done to insure that the planting will be maintained, so I can just imagine what a mess it will be in about 10 years. We have one or two too many newly graduated city planners on staff, and they are not even familiar with what grows well here. Already, some of the pines and maples, which were quite large and quite expensive, have been removed. A historic "hanging tree", a majestic old oak on the courthouse lawn, was damaged and had to be removed because of improper care. It was said to be at least 400 years old, and I wanted to hold a candlelight service during which we would hang those responsible from one of the remaining trees. Well, I thought about it, anyway. Just a short hanging.

Oh, Aimee! I LOVE that idea! I'll bring the rope.

Oh, Lordy, where's my soapbox?! It's around here somewhere!!! THERE it is!

It just plain GALLS me to see topped trees! Another pet peeve is staubs left all over!!!!! I see them everywhere, sometimes over a foot long! Don't people know that those will never grow new limbs, but WILL die and rot, leading to rotting inside the trunk and most probably eventual death of the entire tree?!!!!! A long s-l-o-w death!!! GRRRRR!!!! Kenny usually carries his chainsaw with him and we've gone so far a couple times as to pull over and ask people, "Can I cut those staubs off for you?" *grin* Usually they're oblivious ~ look at us like we're speaking Turkish when we mention growth collars and central leaders.

Kenny's father was one of those. His was an old "cedar chopper," cut firewood and sometimes did "tree service" ~ anything having to do with chainsaws, that man did! LOL! Kenny learned how from his father, who did do a pretty darn good job on tree removal, but had the old practices ingrained in him. Kenny never did much tree service along with his Skinny Kenny's Firewood biz because he thought topping was what you were "supposed" to do and he couldn't bear to do that to a perfectly healthy tree. When we first got together, I showed him a bit about current healthy pruning/training practices so topping can be avoided and he loves it now! But still will pass over a job if the owner insists on topping. God, I LOVE that man!

Louisa

No he honestly thought the proper term was poleaxing, when it was pointed out he was using the wrong term he just told Mother that if she knew so much about it she should do it herself.

Aimee

In the UK we have preservation orders on such trees as we do with certain buildings and its quite a bind if they are in your garden because you have to pay for an inspector and an approved tree sugeon, to prune etc. I think its a great idea but then we don't have any orders on anything in the garden LOL

Baa, in the sovereign Lone Star State of Texas, there is a law, and most cities have similar ordinances, that require certain trees, usually those of certain girth, to be removed only with special permission, and for very good reason. This includes trees on private property. But there is nothing that says anyone must know how to care for those trees on public property, and no one is in charge in any effective sense. So the hanging tree just sat there with problems growing worse each year, until it was gutted with disease and fell victim to a single bolt of lightning. Had it been maintained, it could have recovered, as only part of it was damaged, but the disease was advanced and it was decided to remove it. Of course, if anyone had attempted to provide for its care and maintenance, they would have been forced to appear before a city council with noodles for brains and all the planning ability of a drunk pig. Then the issue would have gone through so many committees and panels and readings and more panels and votes, the poor tree would have died before anything was decided. I have watched this city from inside and out for almost 40 years, and I have to say the ruling class is consistent. No one ever really gets things done right. Want to know the sad part of this story? I live in a designated Main Street city! There are actually people who like the way things are done, or not done, here!

Aimee, the saying people are people evreywhere is very true LOL. We have similar problems here but not so much with trees under a preservation order, they have to be kept up properly by law and who ever is in charge of the property is liable whether its a local council or a private owner.

A couple of years ago a council was berated and shamed for allowing a stand of native orchids to be mown by one of their gardeners. Needless to say the gardener got it in the neck but at least it was reported that his bosses also had a lot of explaining to do.

Way to go!!!

Our city is involved in the Tree City USA program. There are now fines and such for people who don't properly prune trees that are on "public areas". "Public areas" are the trees along the streets, front yards, alley trees, and there are other laws involved too. Our city is growing their own baby trees for the city parks, street trees, and even gave some to the local golf course. Going to be nice as some of the diseased trees are removed and hardy disease and insect resistant ones are put in place. If you want to make a real difference in the education of people on the proper pruning techniques, check out the Tree City USA programs and try to get your own communities involved.

I live in the Sierra Foothills and we have so many beautiful trees. My pet pieve is that so many people are moving here from the cities, buying property and cutting down way too many trees. One neighbor bought property last summer and immediatly cut down 54 trees, and he isn't through yet. Says he wants a more "open" feeling around his house.Wish he would have stayed in the city.

Know exactly what you mean. It's the same here and there are only 4 new houses I know of that have retained their trees. The others had them removed and are now planting new trees!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, man! Cutting down the big trees, then planting small ones in their place ~ I've often thought that was the height of stupidity. THOSE people have lots of sense...(She says as she shakes her head.).