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Debate: topping an old oak vs. letting it grow out naturally?
My neighbor’s buddy who claims to be a tree guy told me to top my 80 year old oak because it was getting too tall near the house. I said no way, that’s bad for the tree. But now I’m second guessing because the branches are scraping the roof and I’m worried about storm damage. He says I’m overreacting and topping is fine if you do it right. Has anyone else dealt with this where the easy fix seemed wrong but maybe wasn’t?
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morgan51210d agoMost Upvoted
Had a buddy who ignored this exact advice and topped his oak. Within two years those weak sprouts were snapping off and landing all over his yard. He ended up cutting the whole thing down because it looked so bad and was actually more dangerous than before.
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Oh man, DO NOT top that oak. I had a similar situation with my parents' old maple that was scraping the gutters. Some hack "tree guy" they hired topped it and it looked AWFUL. The tree sent out a bunch of weak, spindly sprouts that shot up like crazy and were WAY more dangerous in a storm. Ended up having to pay a certified arborist big money to try and fix it, which was basically impossible. You are 100% right to trust your gut on this one.
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