Posts in the ‘Tree Facts & Trivia’ Category
Topping trees is bad for tree health!!
Topping trees lead to the decline of the trees health and eventually it can die. Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of tree branches to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to assume the terminal role. Other names for topping include “heading,” “tipping,” “hat-racking,” and “rounding over.”
It is a common fallacy that trees in Hawaii can survive the worst butchering that you can give them and they will always return. People assume that if the tree comes back to life and it is green that it is a healthy tree.
The truth is that a tree can appear to look healthy to the untrained eye and it can really be in a state of decline. It is just like a person that can have a disease and appear normal and healthy. These pictures are further proof that topping trees leads to their demise. These were once beautiful and healthy trees that should have been properly trimmed by a Certified Arborist.
For more info click here: http://www.treesaregood.org/treecare/topping.aspx 
Palm Facts
Most palms should be pruned with the Swiss Tree Climbers also called the Swiss Bicycles/ Bands/Hoops to avoid spiking them. Spiking causes wounds and entry points for all sort of pathogens and insects which can eventually lead to the failure of the tree. Fronds should be trimmed, paper should be cleaned out, seed pods and nuts should be removed. Palms should be pruned with the fronds coming out the base of the tree at 45 degrees and no higher. Taking the fronds higher over time causes the tree to lack enough leaf surface area for proper photosynthesis (food production from light) and can cause penceling (tree tapering). In this state of loss of food production the tree can become stressed leaving it vulnerable to pathogens which combined with penciling can lead to tree failure. Coconut palms should be trimmed 2-3 times per year in residential settings and 3-4 times per year in commercial areas in relation to how quickly they grow. Check out the actual Tree Facts and Trivia ad that we have in The West Hawaii Today area of the blog.
Monkeypods
Monkeypods (PDF)
Banyan Trees
Banyan trees (PDF)