Pecan question

RC cola

I have 2 old pecan trees in my backyard. Ive always heard them called Papershell since the nuts can be easily cracked in one hand.

They were really tall and some limbs were really long so this early spring/late winter I had them topped out. Throught the summer fresh new limb sprouts emerged from ground level and have grown out a couple of feet.

I want to remove these up to where the main large limbs begin, is there a certain method to use to not harm the tree?

Eden Keeper

Sorry, but the harm was done when the trees were topped and epicormic sprouting is the result.

Rational for tree topping (calling it the way I see it)
Yes Man: (only) qualifications include owning a bucket truck and a chainsaw.
Tornado Chic: prevents storm damage (by mimicking storm damage).
Stump Envy: don't cut it all the way down (now) just leave very tall stumps.
Excuse: it's a pollard.

Rational for not topping trees (or that isn't a pollard)
Tree topping is an illegitimate landscape practice.
Topless trees are obscene.
At best the attachment strength of sprouts is relative to how old they are minus any weakening from rot introduced where the original limb was removed.

Brent Ferris

There are a lot of people that seem to think topping trees makes them stronger, because after all they really sway in the wind, and they are too tall for the person's liking.

So, when a tree is topped, that strong limb or stem that could withstand really strong winds (well before most people were around) is drastically shortened, and the suckering or branching that results now attaches to the outside of the trunk and can shear off quite readily. So the inherent strength of a single limb is now non-existent. Additionally, the original stem had a certain density of branches. Now, with a multitude of stems, each with a tufted top creates far more wind blockage, and storm damage is far more likely.

But the tree really sways in the wind... -- live trees do, and as long as they learn or are allowed to sway as they are growing they are strong enough to withstand most normal winds (Hurricane winds are abnormal). A topped tree with an abnormally thick top may sway some, but is more likely to shear away. THere are trees that don't sway in the wind, but they are usually dead.
And the tree is too tall for your liking? If trees didn't have the genetic ability to withstand the perils of growing too tall (for us), they would never have evolved with these characteristics.

Topping, besides all the reasons that Eden keeper enumerated above, doesn't make sense for trees - not environmentally, not ecologically, not from an engineering perspective, not from a vibrant, long life tree perspective.
The only way topping makes sense, is if you want big bonsais -- and then, you should pick a different species

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RC cola

I simply asked a question and dont really appreciate the first smartass response.

My other option was complete removal.

So based on the opinions so far it really doesnt matter how I remove those sprouts. Thatnks for the more respectful response treeshaveneeds.

I wont bother you guys anymore.

TreeCo

I see this quite often here in Georgia. It's hard to feel sorry for people who don't take a little time to learn about their trees before paying to have them butchered.

It's been a couple of years ago now but a local had his pecan grove butchered and had the firewood from the job for sale loaded in the back of a F-600 with phone number. I gave him a call and asked him how much he wanted......and then told him how that wood could be worth thousands of dollars......


......if he had just left it on the damn trees!

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