Re: Limbing/topping a dead hemlock
jdunster@bigfoot.com
Tue, 6 Oct 1998 21:54:56 -0500
If indeed the trees are dead then I canot see any problem with topping them. You might want to consider making the tall stumps into wildlife trees (see my recebnt article in J Arb on the subjcet for some references). Consider taking the top right off, making the cut surface very rough so that birds can build a nest on top of the styump, and also, cut slots and notches into the trunk for bats, and other nesting sites. Since it is a hemlock, it will decay in about 10 to 15 years, maybe less, and eventually will become unsrtable and fall over. Before that happens you may want to take the whole thing down. Dead trunks make good habitat.
Cheers.
Julian Dunster