Getting to the root of topp Mark Cunnington, 8.5S.F. Contributing Writer LIKE many other North Shore residents, I’m proud of the unique and beautiful character of our community due to its forests and mountainous backdrop. And ic disheartens me this “urban t& unnecessarily popular pract It i unate that son 1 homeowners are under the nus taken beliet that topping coniferous trees will reduce the risk of them being blown over in windstorms. There are other ways of reducing a tree’s wind resistance which are nat only less damaging to the tree, but are more effective and avoid the grotesquely distigured silhou- ettes of beheaded trees across our community. Chopping off the top of a tree will obviously initially reduce its wind resistance; sim- ple physics tells us that. However, in doing so the inner heartwood of the tree is exposed to the multitude of rotting fun- gal spores floating in the air. Normally the undefended heart- wood does not rot since it never exposed co the air; it is protected by the ring of bark and sapwood. The large gash now present at the top of the trunk is too large for the tree to ing tal defend itself and the uaak begins to rot. The tree then grows new shoots, but there are usually several since the tree gets “confused” as to where its real leader went, So as a result, in five to tent years the top of the tre tr than it was before it s originally topped, and the trunk is now rotten. Phe tree is iw at an even greater mk of being d ed hy wind, ould we dow removal ot portive frees, Tree height done fs not ag e facter to trees being blown over. | became convinced of this atier personally witnessing some xtremely tall and skinny palm trees being assaulted with near hurricane force winds and com- ing out unscathed. \ of the tuppled cuniterous trees which I can remember seeing have had root rot. This is a fungal inte the roots which results in a deformed and rotten root struc- ture which significandy reduc the tree’s ability co remain standing. It is only a ma.ter of time before the tree blows over, regardless of whether ic has been topped. This infection may or may not be obviously outwardly visible and the only way to get rid of it is to remove the tree and stump so that it does nor spread Gel Your Annual! | Bedding | Plants located beside Home Hardware Building Centre behind Capilano Mall 915 W. Ist, North Van 985-5192 trees to nearby trees. Healthy trees can be Mown over in the wind if they were previeusly ina forest and: this forest is removed: they are then exposed to winds which we never present. betore. The trunk and root structures have not had time te adjust te the changes. In thi 2 tntess th tree Was already a dominant tree in tite tures should cared ot Heant Slane tron the bottom Ne por: tion of the crown, sav the bot- tom sors. should be carefully removed. Although the tree may cto be more susceptible to caring, more like a palm tree, the tree will in fact b more wind-tirm. Reducing the area of the crown, no matte where it is reduced, will u mately decrease the wind resis- tance of the tree. If the homeowner is still not confident that the tree is safe in the wind, even after it has been pruned and checked for root rot then I suggest having it removed and replaced with a seedling of a species native to our area. TOPPING a tree can ulti- mately resuit in a bushier tree top and a tree with a rotten trunk. NEWS photo Bred (Come See Western Canada’ s)| | Built in Barbecue i ~ only at Johnstones ~ | GES Dynamic Cooki Systems | Construction Bers Kt § 24", 27", 36” & AB" sizy