An unsatisfactory approach to tree maintenance or pruning is “topping” it. Topping is the indiscriminant removal of branches of a tree above an arbitrary height, leaving unnatural, grotesque stubs and ...

As Cass Turnbull told the story, “Soon after man emerged from his cave with his first cutting tool, he whacked a limb off a bush, and it felt good.” This initial act of what she termed “mal-pruning,” ...