Tree Lopping vs Tree Pruning – What’s the Difference?

If you’ve been sitting there staring at the huge tree in your back yard wondering just how to tidy it up a bit, you may have considered calling in an arborist to do the work for you. But when you do a search, you come across options for tree lopping and tree pruning and have no idea which one will work best for you.

So, what’s the difference between the two?

While they are both related to maintaining trees, they are two very different methods, and will be used in different ways. If you are a bit of a gardener, you probably understand that pruning tends to be trimming away dead and overgrown branches to encourage growth, reduce the size of the plant and to cut out diseased areas. It isn’t too dissimilar when it comes to trees.

Lopping means to trim the tree branches to reduce the size of the tree, generally done for safety reasons and to allow for easy maintenance in the future

Pruning allows you to protect your trees against damage, prolonging their health and their life
Let’s take a look further into what pruning and lopping cover – it will give you an idea of what the best service will be for that tree you keep looking at.

Tree Pruning
Trees will always get damaged and diseased branches and it is best to remove them, not only for safety purposes but for the health of the tree, and to encourage new growth. It is really important to pay attention to the branches that need to be removed, as removing one branch, may cause an issue with another.

There are plenty of benefits to regularly pruning trees including:

· Stimulating new growth
· Enhancing production of fruit on fruit trees
· Protecting against diseases on susceptible trees
· Removing branches that may be or may become dangerous
· Remedial work after storm or fire damage to the tree
· Improving the overall look and feel of your garden. Pruning can bring in more light and open up your garden, making it feel bigger and less closed in.
Tree pruning also covers more minor works like removing small branches and new growth that isn’t required. There are three different methods of tree pruning – crown lifting, crown reduction and crown thinning. As these methods are all used for a variety of reasons on different areas of the tree, an experienced arborist will be able to guide you on the best choice for your garden.

Tree Lopping

Tree lopping is a bit more straightforward and essentially involves removing branches that are either damaged and no longer growing, or to train the branches to grow in a specific direction. Lopping can also encourage new growth and a longer life for the tree.
Tree lopping often removes between 50-75% of the trees’ canopy, which tends to shock the tree into producing new growth. But it is important that tree lopping is done by an experienced team of arborists, as removing too much can remove the nutrients that the tree needs. It may also weaken the tree, which then gives the potential for damage and may make it more prone to disease and pest attack.
An experienced arborist will generally attempt to use other methods instead of just going directly to tree lopping. Sometimes it may seem necessary, but there are many other options available before getting to this step.

Dickies Tree Service provides tree pruning and lopping services from Yanchep to Rockingham and everywhere in between. If you have a tree you’ve been staring at for far too long and wondering what to do with it, the team at Dickies can help.

There are so many benefits to having healthy trees around your home including clean air, reduction of smog, providing shade to your yard and your home, acting as a windbreak, and providing a home to birds, insects and other animals.

Well maintained trees can also increase the value of your home, so if you are considering selling, it is well worth employing the services of an arborist to prune and tody up any trees around your home.