BA Robinson Tree Service
St. George tree service offering pruning, trimming and removal using standard arboricultural practice.
BA Robinson Tree Service handles pruning, trimming and removal in the St. George area. Pruning is where the difference between a tree service and an arborist shows most clearly, because the fastest way to reduce a tree is also the one that damages it permanently.
How it works
Topping means cutting main stems back to stubs, without reference to where a branch or a bud sits. A tree responds to it as a wound and an emergency: it loses a large share of the leaf area that feeds it, and it answers by pushing epicormic shoots - dense vertical regrowth from dormant buds under the bark. Those shoots grow fast, which is why a topped tree looks recovered in a couple of seasons, and they are attached only to the outer layers of the stub rather than being anchored in the wood. They are structurally weak, and they break in exactly the storms the topping was supposed to protect against. Meanwhile the stubs cannot seal, because a tree seals a wound by growing over it from a branch collar that is no longer there, so decay enters and works down the stem.
Proper pruning cuts back to a lateral branch or to the branch collar, the swollen ring where a branch meets its parent stem, and leaves that collar intact so the tree can close over the wound. The industry standard describes both the cut and how much live crown may be removed at one time, which is far less than most people expect - a mature tree removes only a modest fraction of its canopy in a season without stress. Where genuine size reduction is needed, it is done as crown reduction, cutting each stem back to a substantial lateral that can take over as the new leader, which keeps the structure intact.
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Frequently asked questions
What is wrong with topping a tree?
It removes a large share of the leaf area that feeds the tree and leaves stubs that cannot seal, because sealing happens from a branch collar the cut has removed. Decay then enters and travels down the stem. The tree responds with dense vertical regrowth attached only to the outer layers of the stub, which is structurally weak and breaks in storms.
What is a branch collar?
The slightly swollen ring of tissue where a branch meets the stem it grows from. It contains the chemistry and the growth capacity a tree uses to seal over a wound, so a correct pruning cut is made just outside it and leaves it intact. Cutting flush to the stem removes the collar and prevents the wound from closing.
How much of a tree can be pruned at once?
Considerably less than most people expect. Industry standards limit how much live crown may be removed in a single operation, and a mature tree in particular tolerates only a modest fraction before it is stressed. Where real size reduction is needed, crown reduction - cutting each stem back to a substantial lateral that becomes the new leader - preserves the structure.
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