We have a giant, beautiful ash tree in our back yard (Southern California) that was over grown. We hired a team to cut it back and reduce the volume but they cut ALL the leaves. I’m terrified it won’t grow back – any feedback on what we should expect/what we can do?
by MedjoDate
33 Comments
A neighbor did this, and thought he was nuts. It grew back beautifully. Be patient.
It’ll grow back. Probably take 2 years before it looks decent. Next time talk to whomever you hire about expectations if this isn’t what you wanted.
Tree’s are resilient, should be fine
Trees have an astonishing stockpile of energy. Even if they reduced it to a stump itd still grow back. If the tree is healthy its pretty hard to over prune. Especially with a tree that well established
That’s what every ash tree in the northeast looks like
It will grow back.
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From what I recall, you pretty much have to set those on fire to kill them.
It’s an ash tree. It’ll be just fine. They grow like weeds.
Congrats on your new Joshua tree !
Are ash borer beetles not a thing in California yet?
I’ve lost every ash on my property, roughly 40 trees, to this beetle.
You didn’t hire a competent team. Next time hire arborists. It will grow back and most of the branches will be poorly attached.
Frustrating as fuck this happened. As an arborist, this is why I always stress to folks to not just let any crew touch trees. And even with ISA cert, make sure there’s clear communication and outline of work expectations. They did a terrible job, topped every branch. Yeah the tree will probably survive, but this is bad practice and guarantees new growth will have weak branch attachments that increase risk as they get larger. Also all the open cuts are in areas that are harder for trees to compartmentalize and seal off, which means more chances for pathogens and pests to get in. This kind of work ruins the trees structure and looks ugly too. Sorry for your tree. Here’s a resource about why topping trees is harmful: https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2016-08/246184.pdf
One of the best trees for coppicing and pollarding. Should be no problem. It will grow back think and dense. You do need to have better understanding with your certified arborist. If you hired a half assed mow and blow crew you get what you pay for.
I’ve seen an entire ash tree grow from a stump. Like 20 feet tall after a year.
It’s called pollarding and it’s a technique to help the tree but it looks terrible at first. When the tree doesn’t have to focus on the leaves it’ll focus on growing it’s roots. So it helps make the tree more sturdy and when the branches grow back (they will) then they’ll grow bushy and fuller than before.
IT’S NAKED!
Can’t kill an ash, I’ve tried
Don’t worry, usually what a tree has above ground, it also has below ground, and the ash tree will have a large root system – judging by the size of the trunk. This means it will have enough resources to rejuvenate itself in the spring and grow new branches. I have pruned my walnut tree dramatically several times in this way, and it has always recovered by the following year.
They butchered your tree by topping every single branch. Trees should never ever be cut like that.
Agree it will come back, but ashes are holding on by a thread in the US due to emerald ash borer, so it’s time is likely limited. Only other thing is this is topping which is very different from pollarding, in that pollards are often managed annually or biannually and are started young to form knuckles that new shoots will arise from. In topping a tree is allowed to grow normally then hacked back leaving large stubs that usually decay and which leave cavities over time. Along with this, without consistent pruning of the new shoots as in pollarding, they are allowed to grow and reestablish the former canopy. The issue is these branches only arise from within the bark and are very poorly attached to the original trunk, leaving the tree’s new canopy built on an unstable foundation thats less sturdy long term, especially when compared to a managed pollard or natural tree.
I’m sorry. But always go to someone who’s knowledgeable of tree work, on trees that you value.
Not great for the tree, but fortunately ash trees can take this type of improper pruning. Keep an eye on signs of stress. In southern CA you may get sun scalded branches even in winter. The branches will now grow back with weaker attachment too so be aware of future breakouts if you let them grow large.
It will grow back but it will shower hate on you for a little while.
Nothing bad will happen to the tree. It will grow new branches and leaves beautifully. To be honest, the workers left a lot of branches.
They may have gone a little hard, but I’ve seen ash trees in the UK here bounce back from a harder cut than this. It should be fine
So sorry. Plants and trees never cease to surprise me. Nothing to do now but wait. I hope your ash leafs out beautifully for you.
I have an ash that’s probably 60-70 year olds and there were some seriously rotted leader branches. I had the arborist remove them before they could fall on the house. He wasn’t sure if it’d survive or not, but I wasn’t ready to cut the whole thing down. Almost a year later and it’s doing just fine.
Also in CA
It will be fine, if they hadn’t done it like this then they would have done a bad job. She is a beautiful tree BTW
I think you hired landscapers. My husband grew up in a family of landscapers. I grew up in a family of nurserymen. My husband doesn’t know shit about gardening. I think he’s learned more googling after an argument, than he ever did on the job.
The mistake is thinking landscapers know anything about the health of a yard.
What did it look like before?
Sorry this happened to your tree — I’m glad people seem to expect it to recover.
Having seen more toppings and outright hatchet jobs in two years in Southern California than I can recall from decades in the mid-Atlantic, I’ve come to wonder: why are tree crews out here commonly so terrible? What gives?
Oldest coppiced hedges are in excess of 1000 years. Pollarding is a maintenance plan. That’s a shit pruning job but not exclusively because it was topped. It’s okay to be pragmatic if you understand and clearly communicate the outcomes/repercussions to the client. There are trees that were mortality wounded before anyone on here was born, and probably a few of them will be here after we’re all gone.