In the spirit of "topping" then this tree had a "siding" too.
Around here I get phone calls all the time where people ask for a quote to give their trees a "hair cut".
Today driving around I spotted this semi-mature tallowood that received a "haircut".
These are also refered to as topping and hat racking. Like a hat rack on a coat stand etc.
At times I feel like the only idiot trying to persuade people otherwise. I also feel as though no customer knows anything else.
I have even had people ring and ask if I am an arborist coz they want their tree pruned properly. I get there and they ask for what you see below, but they insist they want it done properly.
I then ask them to expand on the properly part since they're the experts on tree pruning and care. Wow, some of the answers are just great, then I ask them what they do for a real job coz it sure aint trees. Ends up their occupation has nothing to do with ours. Then comes the 15 minutes of explanation, examples, and heck standing there I dont need pictures I just look up and down the street to find a topped tree, they're always around which in the customers eyes means it's OK to do it.
Anyway, all that sort of pruning is stupid, and if you are a home-owner reading this then get an arborist and ask them what is best and why, but get a good one or some fool will start to kill your tree with pruning or disfigure it.
This page of mine covers pruning in general and has some info on true pollarding.
We are all about trees - qualified tree pruning Brisbane 