My dad, a landscaper for 40 years, told me topping a tree is sometimes the only option a homeowner will pay for.

Honestly, that hit different because I've always been taught it's the worst sin in the book, but now I'm debating if doing a bad job safely for $800 is better than them hiring a hack who'll destroy it for $300.

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan_fisher991mo ago

It's a brutal choice between your professional pride and the tree's actual survival. Sometimes the ethical move is to do the lesser harm yourself, knowing you'll at least minimize the damage. A homeowner set on that path won't be talked out of it, they'll just find someone with no standards. You can try to steer the cut towards something that might recover, where a hack would just butcher it.

ninab951mo ago

Brutal choice" feels a bit heavy, ivan_fisher99. It's just a tree, not a surgery.