Topping is against the law in most parts of sydney, so it doesn't get much debate. It's worth nothing that if you've ever done any hedging, then you've topped a tree. I've done some hedges as high as 40'. Technically it's against the law, but the councils don't seem to bother.
Trees that are exempted from requiring a permit for removal for whatever reason technically aren't covered by the standards, and are therefore able to be topped legally. I tend to turn people down even when it's legal, but I'll say yes every now and then. The scenario that gets a 'yes' from me is generally when it's a tree that doesn't respond too badly to it (cypress pines for example) and when the person says something like;
"yeah, we don't need a permit and we could cut the whole thing down but it gives us some privacy and it would be a shame to lose the whole thing. It would take us 10 years to get something to grow to that height. We really need to do something because it's totally overshadowing our house and dropping limbs. Do you think if you topped it and we got you back to do some trimming we could hang on to it for a few more years? We'd really like to keep it".
I much prefer this kind of customer to the kind that says "I got rejected for cutting down this tree which I hate, but can you just cut 80% of it? Or cut it in half at least? Could you kill it for me?"
I do some contract climbing work for a guy that has a lot of big contracts, one of them is at a really large cemetary. You can get lost in that place, seriously. There's probably 10's of thousands of trees there, and they just do ongoing maintenance. It's a sordid world, and I didn't know much about it before working there. Death is a big money business, and just like life people are divided by class. At the top you've got those with money, mausoleums, family plots. Right on down, individual plots (by denomination), places to store ashes, and at the lower end there's memorials. I just can't figure this, but a memorial is just a brass plaque with your name on it. No body, no ashes, just a name on a bit of brass. Presumably these might be used for those where the body was not recovered, for those who had their ashes scattered and the family wanted something to hang on to, or for those who just couldn't afford anything else but still wanted something. Even at this end of the scale, there's still distinctions to be made! A memorial in a field some place isn't worth much. Along a path and the price increases. With a view you're paying maybe more than for ashes storage in a place without a view (decisions decisions!) and under a tree with a view you're getting back into bigger money. There might be 3 or 4 memorials around that tree. Or, if the price is right, only yours.
So getting back to the tree, If a family has shelled out $$$$ for a brass plaque under a tree, then that tree is now worth some big ass money. You can't just go cutting the thing down because it's dying or dangerous. Somebody paid a lot of money to get a memorial under that tree, and cutting it down (even if you replant) could be very traumatic for them if they associate their lost person with that tree. On the other side of the coin, the cemetary may have to refund them some money to compensate for the now removed tree, and we can't have that! Let me tell you, I've been coerced into the most ridiculous pruning scenarios at that cemetary. It's hard to say no though. One of the bummers to working there is that you're not allowed to chip while a service is going on within sight of you, and there is always a service going on in sight of you! Strangely enough you're allowed to run saws though. Every time I'm there and we're waiting for a service to end so we can chip and we're standing round looking like we take this seriously, we're secretly checking out the birds for which is the hottest, and I always wonder whether it's true that a funeral is the easiest place to pickup and that people often have casual sex after. I've yet to test the theory, not out of any sense of propriety, but more due to the fact that I'm generally sweaty, smelly and covered in sawdust and don't fancy my chances. Been meaning to go back there someday in a suit.
Anyhow, getting back to the trees, it's a shame to top a tree, especially those that respond poorly to it. Topping without reason is ridiculous, and topping in any event is a one way ticket... but I don't think it's a completely invalid technique in terms of 'tree management'. Extending the amenity of a tree that would otherwise be removed is a good thing. When viewed in that light, and used with discretion, I don't think that we should ever say "never top".
Shaun
