What Is Tree Lopping?

Tree Lopping involves the cutting of branches in a tree to control its shape, size and overall appearance. It is generally used to train trees to grow in a particular way or to remove dead branches and improve its health and safety. It is important to understand the difference between tree lopping and pruning which can often be confused with each other. Pruning is the careful cutting and trimming of small branches to encourage growth and improve the health of a tree while lopping is a more severe technique that should be avoided as it can damage the tree.

What Is the Best Type of Tree Lopping?

There are a number of different methods of tree lopping that professional arborists use. Some of these include lateral lopping, crown cleaning and pollarding. Lateral lopping is commonly used to reduce the height of a tree and is often recommended when a tree is growing too close to a house or other structure, causing potential hazards. Other reasons for lateral lopping can be to promote healthy tree growth or to prevent damage from storms or wind. Crown cleaning is the process of removing dead and diseased branches from a tree, which helps to improve the overall health and appearance of the tree. It is also a great method for reducing the risk of damage to gutters and other surrounding structures. Pollarding is a common form of tree lopping that is performed to create a compact crown, usually with a single dominant stem. It is a great option for smaller spaces and can help to maximise sunlight penetration into the surrounding area.

It is vital to select the right tree for your landscape and to consider its function, as this will have a huge impact on its life and longevity. Many people choose to plant trees to add a sense of security and privacy, or to improve the look of their property. It is crucial to select the right tree for the job, and this can be achieved through careful planning and ensuring that the tree will be able to fulfil its function when it has matured.

Some techniques of tree resizing can be harmful to the tree, including lopping and topping. Lopping involves the removal of large side branches as well as whole sections of a tree’s canopy, and is considered to be very harsh and unfriendly to the tree. Topping is the cutting of a large portion of a tree’s crown and is another practice that we avoid at The Tree Man. Topping and lopping can leave a tree vulnerable as the cut areas act like open wounds that are susceptible to infection from bacteria’s, diseases and pest infestations.

Once these infections start, they are able to spread rapidly throughout the entire tree and cause damage. Additionally, lopped portions of the tree tend to have weaker connections with the rest of the trunk and may easily break or fall in future storms. It is also not advisable to cover pruning cuts or wounds with paint, as this has been proven to be detrimental to living cells.

source https://tropicaltreeservices01.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/what-is-tree-lopping/