What most of us don’t realize is that trees do need care just like other plants. Just because they are massive and solid it doesn’t mean that no attention is required for healthy growth.
When owners do realize that trees do need care, they are often left confused between tree pruning and tree lopping. People tend to confuse this mainly because both of these techniques are related to maintenance of a tree.
However, both these techniques are used of different purposes. In short lopping refers to the cutting down of the branches to adjust and most of the time reduce the size of the tree. Pruning on the other hand refers to health of the tree and it helps to keep tree diseases free.
What is Pruning in detail?
When some branches get damaged or are diseased, they die and becomes an unnecessary weight on the tree. These dead branches or parts should be removed to keep the tree healthy and sometimes stop the spread of the specific disease.
When pruning special attention to be given to branches that are ingrown and also branches that are crossed which can cause major damages due to friction when moving in extreme windy conditions.
In comparison to tree lopping which is basically removing big tree branches to reduce size, pruning is about detail and can cover minor works that include removal of small branches or clipping water sprouts.
Some benefits of pruning is that it stimulates development, increases fruits production, keeps the tree healthy, saves owners from unwanted trouble due to dangerous crossed branches and improves the overall look.
Some techniques to prune trees are crown reduction, crown thinning and, crown lifting.
What is Lopping in detail?
Tree lopping has nothing to with the health of a tree but rather with making the tree look good by altering the shape. It involves cutting branches carefully and training the tree to grown ina certain shape or angle.
Like pruning it is also used to removed dead branches that no longer grow so that new branches can sprout.
Lopping is quite technical, and you should always look out for an experienced tree lopper. This will ensure that the main erection of the tree will be intact and just small adjustment are made using special techniques. Not everyone can do this anyway because you need a permit from your local authority. For example, when it comes to tree lopping Brisbane, there are rules about how treesshould be cut so tree loppers have to adhere to these rules.
Sometimes tree looping can negatively affect the tree like for example if too many branches or leaves are removed. This weakens the tree with essential nutrient uptake being limited.
What should I Pick: Lopping or Pruning?
I think this best decided but an expert so you should always look for experienced arborist and let him decide the health of your tree and what should be done for optimum growth.
Both these techniques are important. However, some situation requires pruning while other situation require lopping. Let an expert decide this for you.
