Hello,

They won't "regenerate." What they will do is sprout scores of multiple weak leaders. Further, the gaping wounds left by the chainsaws will weaken the trees, making them more prone to breaking into pieces in a windy storm.

In my opinion, they have created a more dangerous situation. I would have words with who's responsible for this irresponsibility.

~Dave

There's no reason to do that. Others have said why it makes them worse.

It's just as bad as when utility companies just shear the entire tree to avoid a two-foot-wide set of electrical wires. If you're going to butcher it like that, just cut the damn thing down and save us all the misery.

They've wrecked the trees instead of improving the property. Another one of those bad ideas people get talked into, or see somebody else do and think is something they want to do themselves. Could have spent the money on something that was useful instead. Plus there will be more costs in future created by damaging the trees now. Shows the people making the decisions about maintenance of the grounds there haven't a clue about tree growth and preservation, what trees are supposed to look like etc. - are they next going to hire someone to saw the top floor off some of the buildings?

Note in particular the conifer topping article linked to at the end of the page below.

Here is a link that might be useful: 5 Reasons to Stop Topping Trees

This post was edited by bboy on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 0:21

Ditto to the others on this being a very bad move.

"Where are you that a true pine (Pinus sp.) grows 100' in 34 years?"

Pinus radiata will do so in the PNW, and also California if irrigated. I'd not be surprised if P. elliottii could also do so in the southeast USA. Plenty of other pines that can do so in warmer subtropical regions, but the poster's 'My Page' does say USA.

There's also the possibility they're some other conifer misidentified, or the height is over-estimated.

Resin

To answer where I am. Bakersfield California. I'm not sure of the true name of the tree but it has hundreds of pine cones growing from it so I assumed it is a pine. If I am wrong about the height, I am not off by much. The base of the tree is very large.

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Looks like Pinus sabiniana, which is a pretty distinctive native species. The tip pruning was ridiculous, if somebody is worried about the proximity to the building the tree should just be cut down.

i see the work of an insurance agent..

and a HOA who dont have the gonads to do the right thing.. and remove them ....

i coulndt sleep with a weak wooded giant of that size.. hanging over my house ...

what a nightmare.. insure you will is properly made out.. and filed...

ken

Ken...why do you assume it's weak wooded? At this point, we're not even sure what species it is. If it is P. sabiniana, they are so wispy and deep rooted that any windthrow risk is negligible. Bakersfield doesn't receive enough snow either, to be of any real concern.

Ken, you may need to get out more :-) Tall native conifers are very prominent in many, many western neighborhoods and often exist very close to homes. And do not seem to have any more predilection to come crashing down on adjacent houses here as larger trees do anywhere else. But western landscapes seldom worry about hurricanes or tornadoes so that might be a factor.....here the issue is with wildfires.

In many suburban developments, the amount of native trees that are left in place is highly regulated and you would need to get municipal planning commission permission to remove any. And usually those that are removed must be replaced with something else (typically a selection off a specified list and of a specified size).

That tree already has codominant leader from a cut years ago.

you guys can argue the garden side of this as long as you want..

as a reformed attorney for various insurance companies.. i have spoken ... lol

for what that is worth ...

the equation runs something like this... 60 plus foot tree full of flammable resin ... 18 foot house.. add gravity [please refer to sir isaac newton, rather than dirr .. lol ..].. then add HOA who doesnt want its rates doubled.. throw in CA and forest fires ... etc .... and this is a liability in the making ....

you can all wine [it is CA after all] .... about your blessed trees.. then lynch the HOA and the ins co.. when the laws of physics outrule your garden rules ...

that thing is a giant resinous matchstick ... crikey ... if you want to throw in the electrical engineering aspect of a lightening rod ... or are you going to tell me now.. that lightening doesnt strike in CA????

whats next.. are you going to argue pine doesnt burn??? .. drop smoldering limbs on the house below ....

ok .. if you rule out gravity.. and fire.. that pine is most perfectly placed ...

jimminey ....

ken

This is a Canary Island Pine and this practice is done to this species all over California. I saw many, many of them like this all over the LA area last year.

I've had the pleasure of seeing that being done down there also. Many people also "practice" the eating of junk food, that does not make it a good idea.

The frequency of Canary Island pine in California plantings and the narrow crown shape made that species my first guess. But they've cut this one back so far into the interior foliage it looks like P. sabiniana. The trees behind it may be the same kind, showing what it is supposed to look like.

Since Canary Island pine, like Italian stone pine is able to sprout juvenile foliage and grow back out apparently it is thought okay to whack it back.

Just to have it grow back to the size it was before, but now with a deformed and disrupted branching structure, possible future breakage problems.