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I finally quit topping my neighbor's silver maple and the difference a year later is nuts
My neighbor kept bugging me to top the silver maple in his front yard because it was getting too tall, and against my better judgment I did it about 14 months ago. Drove by that house in Springfield last week and the thing looks like a broom, just a mess of weak shoots sprouting sideways off every cut. His other maple that I just thinned properly with a pole saw looks full and normal and held up fine through that ice storm in February. Wound up being way more work for me to fix later than if I had just explained why topping is a bad idea from the start. Anyone got a good way to talk a stubborn homeowner out of the buzz cut without sounding like a jerk?
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emmam6720d ago
Did you ever get that sinking feeling when you pull up to a job and see what the last guy did? Because man, I feel for you here. Topping is one of those things where the customer thinks they're saving money and you end up babysitting a tree for years, and the sad part is the maple pays the price for it, not him. I've had the same talk with folks who swear by the buzz cut and the thing that works best for me is just showing them pictures of a topped tree a couple years out, because words don't land but seeing that broom look usually does. It's a bummer you had to find out the hard way, but at least his other maple proves your point for you.
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