There's fine line between pruning tree, butchering it

By JOAN SWENSON, Californian gardening columnist

Call it the season of outrage.

Folks stop me to tell me how furious they are about the bad tree-pruning jobs that are rampant in Bakersfield in the fall. Some years I even receive photographs of really hideous work. I am given directions to commercial parking lots where magnolia trees, for example, which probably should never be pruned, have been whacked back. Or any number of other locations around town where someone has paid to have their trees butchered.

The question always posed to me is, "Why?" 
And I've always offered some lame ideas, such as "People in Bakersfield don't like tall trees" and "People here just don't know any better." 
On a trip to Sacramento last weekend, where trees are huge and beautiful, a couple of friends brought up the subject of trees -- mind you, I didn't even start the lunch conversation on trees -- and I think I got definitive answers. 
One fellow wisely said, "There will never be large trees in parking lots as long as there are birds." 
Ah, I suddenly understood! Angry customers stomp into merchants' stores to complain about bird droppings falling from trees! 
That's why we don't want big trees in Bakersfield parking lots, despite the fact that most people are scrambling to find the tiniest bit of shade on a July afternoon at my Albertson's. My pal Ed perhaps was on to something. 
Across the table, another friend had a different theory: "It's because people want to feel that they got their money's worth," Joe said. "They want to see a lot of tree taken down." 
I was nearly dumbstruck. Two perfect answers at the same lunch table. I don't know that Ed and Joe have the full answer, but I suspect they are darned close. 
My first bit of advice to you when you decide to get your trees pruned is to ask yourself this one, simple question. 
Why? Why am I going to trim these trees? 
If your answer is, "Because I'm supposed to every fall," think again. Most landscape trees to not require annual pruning. (Deciduous fruit trees do, however, in December and January.) 
When you decide to prune, you should be doing it for the following reasons: to improve the structure of the tree or for safety's sake. Artful pruning can beautify trees; trees that have broken limbs or disease problems should also be pruned, of course. 
My second bit of advice is to not hire the person who is throwing a business card by your front door. These trimmers may be perfectly competent, but I tend to distrust a tree trimmers who advertise a specialty called "topping." 
Topping is the cutting back of branches at any point along the branch, rather than heading back to a branch attachment. Topping is what is commonly done to mulberry trees in the south valley. It's ugly and dangerous. Trees that are headed back typically will sprout great numbers of branches right around the headed back location. 
These weakly attached, ugly growths will ultimately need more pruning next year. So, bad pruning begets more miserably bad pruning. Furthermore, these new growths are more likely to break and cause problems for the owner. 
Worse, topping done to some trees will alter their shape permanently. One example is the Modesto ash. Topped Modesto ash trees typically will not sprout new growth and will slowly decline in health. Perhaps you've seen half-dead ash trees that were trimmed several years before; they simply don't recover. 
Other landscape trees that do not respond well to heavy pruning are evergreen trees and sycamores. Coast redwoods don't need to be thinned. Neither do pine trees. And coat-racked sycamores often decline and die, although it may take several years. 
Pruning cuts should be made where branches connect with other branches or the tree trunk, with cuts made just outside the bark collar. Well placed pruning cuts made just outside the bark collar will heal over nicely, leaving a rounded rim. 
Do some reading and research before you pay someone to trim your trees. 
The Tree Foundation of Kern is an outstanding source that includes illustrations of properly pruned trees. Try the Tree Foundation of Kern's Web site for more advice on tree pruning: www.urbanforest.org. 
Hire a tree-trimming company that has a certified arborist on staff. Specify that you do not want your trees topped.

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