If you are ever in conversation with a tree surgeon, or arborist, and the topic happens to be trees, then you might not fully comprehend a lot of the terms he uses, and this very specific branch of tree care, there are specific words and phrases that are used only in this industry. With this in mind, here is a brief overview of some of the commonly used terms and their meanings.
- The Crown – This refers to the top section of the tree, or the area where foliage is abundant, and the crown can be thinned, lifted, or reduced. This involves removing the ends of the branches, the ones that have the most leaves, and this might be done for several reasons. It could be purely for aesthetic reasons, or perhaps the growth is too intense, and parts of the crown are being starved of oxygen.
- Tree Lopping and Topping– This term is not used so much in modern times, but basically, lopping involves taking off side branches with vertical cuts, while topping means to remove the top sections using vertical cuts. If you are based in Perth and need tree lopping services, there is an excellent company that specialise in all aspects of tree care.
- Tree Felling – This involves taking down the tree by carefully cutting a wedge at the right point of the trunk, which would cut through 75% of the trunk, than with a diagonal cut on the opposite side to the wedge (which has been removed), and this would send the tree to fall in the desired direction. Tree felling is only a suitable option if there is nothing within a certain radius that could be damaged, such as in the middle of a field, and in an urban environment, the tree would be removed section by section for safety reasons.
- Stump Grinding – Modern arborists make good use of available technology and a stump grinder will remove the stump and roots down to a level of one metre below the ground, leaving a pile of wood chips where the stump used to be. Some people make good use of a tree stump by creating a natural table, but if you wish to use the area for anything, the stump needs to be removed. This device is attached to a tractor, which drives several tungsten carbide discs and when lowered at high speed, they simply eat the tree stump as the device is slowly lowered, leaving behind small wood chippings, which should be replaced with sand if you wish to build on the land.
- Pruning – A very general term that means removing specific branches or thinning out the foliage, and the main aim is to shape the tree and ensure it has balanced growth.
If you have trees in your garden, it is likely you have someone pop round periodically to give them a good prune, and if you have never given your trees a thought, now is the time to have an expert take a look.