Published
In Perth, most people say “tree lopping” when they mean any kind of cutting back, and that’s fine. Ask for a tree to be lopped and any tree service will know what you’re after. But in the trade, lopping and pruning mean two different things, and the difference shows up in how the tree grows back.
What lopping means
Strictly speaking, lopping is cutting branches off at random points along their length, usually to make a tree shorter or smaller quickly. It leaves stubs.
A tree responds to stubs by sending out lots of new shoots from just below the cut. Those shoots grow fast, but they’re weakly attached to the branch, and the stub behind them often starts to rot. A few years later you have a bushy, top-heavy tree with more branches to break off in the next big wind than it had before.
What pruning means
Pruning cuts a branch back to a point where the tree can seal the wound: a fork, where a smaller branch joins, or the collar where the branch meets the trunk.
Cut there, and the tree grows over the wound instead of sprouting a mass of shoots. The result looks natural, lasts longer and leaves a stronger tree.
Which one do you need?
Most jobs people call “lopping” are really pruning jobs:
- cutting branches back off the roof, gutters or solar panels
- lifting lower limbs over a driveway, path or shed
- taking out dead, broken or hanging branches
- reducing a tree that’s grown too big for its spot
All of these can be done with good pruning cuts. The only real question is how much can come off without harming the tree. As a rule, take only what’s needed, and avoid taking a big share of the leafy canopy at once.
When removal is the better option
Sometimes a tree has to be cut back so hard to get it off a building that there would be little left but stubs. In that case, heavy lopping just sets up a bigger problem later, and removing the tree, or replacing it with something better suited to the spot, is usually the better call.
Timing
Most pruning can be done at any time of year in Perth. Dead and broken branches should come out whenever you notice them. If you want the tree trimmed back before the windy months, book it before winter.
Getting it done
We cut back to a fork or the trunk wherever we can, and chip everything on site before we leave. See tree pruning and lopping, or request a quote with a few photos of the tree.