Rant: Why do people keep topping mature oaks like they're hedges?

I drove past a job last week where some guy just lopped the top off a 50 foot red oak. Left those huge stubs sticking up like 8 inches. That tree is gonna rot from the inside out and drop big limbs in 5 years. I see this all the time in new subdivisions around here. Do these guys not know about the branch collar or are they just in a hurry?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_foster19d ago

Is it really that serious though @parker_patel84, some trees heal just fine even with ugly cuts.

parker_patel8419d ago

Mate, that branch collar thing is basic stuff but these guys just don't care. Had a neighbor who hired a crew to "view trim" a big white oak and they left those same 8 inch stubs. Told him it's basically a death sentence for the tree. Took three years but those stubs started rotting and one big limb came down and smashed his fence. Cut is cut I guess, but proper pruning cuts flush with the branch collar let the tree seal itself. These hacks think they're saving time but they're just creating expensive problems down the road.