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Warning: I overheard someone talking about capping trees the wrong way
I was at the hardware store in Eugene last Saturday and heard two guys talking about capping a big oak. One said he just cuts the top off and leaves it, no drop-crotch cuts or anything. I had to butt in and tell him that’s basically asking for rot and weak regrowth. How do you handle people who don’t know proper topping vs reduction pruning?
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fisher.charlie1d ago
Took my neighbor almost two years to admit I was right about his topped maple. I just left a little pamphlet from the extension office in his mailbox about proper pruning cuts, didn't even say anything. When that dead stub started rotting and the sprouts shot up all weak, he finally came over with a six-pack and asked me to show him the drop-crotch method on his other oak. Some folks just need to see the damage with their own eyes before they'll listen.
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morgan.mary1d ago
I usually just tell them to look at the stub in a year or two when it's all rotten and splitting down the trunk. If they argue I just walk away, some folks gotta learn the hard way.
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