Tree topping – when the entire top of a tree is cut off – seems to have become a preferred method of tree pruning. Beauty is certainly in the eyes of the beholder, but is it good or bad for the tree?

Q. Many times I have read, “Never top a tree!” I have also read that we should keep fruit trees at 8 feet for easy picking. And the avocado experts recommend keeping avocado trees at 11 feet. Either I ...

An unsatisfactory approach to tree maintenance or pruning is “topping” it. Topping is the indiscriminant removal of branches of a tree above an arbitrary height, leaving unnatural, grotesque stubs and ...