# How to prune these? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355 "2021-03-21T17:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dauerbach1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/1 "2021-03-21T17:38:44Z")
I am not sure what type of evergreen these are but they are getting too tall (22 years old) and I was wondering the best way to make these smaller. Just cut a couple feet from the top, or will that not work well. > **[Imgur](https://dauerbach.imgur.com/all)** > > Imgur: The magic of the Internet ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/2 "2021-03-21T19:34:39Z")
Your link is blank or incorrect. Goes to an error page. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dauerbach1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/3 "2021-03-21T19:36:17Z")
I was afraid of that. When I click on it, it goes to the pictures. I will try to figure out why it does not work for others. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/4 "2021-03-21T19:55:03Z")
Please try to fix the photo. Really pining to see it. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/5 "2021-03-21T23:35:00Z")
Imgur works as it should for me: [![](https://i.imgur.com/VZXOttI.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/VZXOttI.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/6 "2021-03-22T00:49:39Z")
Cutting off the top of a tree is never a good idea. Rot and disease become much more likely. That black tarry stuff used to cover branch stubs does no good. Watch how-to videos on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/7 "2021-03-22T01:20:58Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Cutting off the top of a tree is never a good idea. Rot and disease become much more likely. That black tarry stuff used to cover branch stubs does no good. Watch how-to videos on Youtube. - Cutting off the bottom of a tree isn’t any better. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/8 "2021-03-22T01:27:20Z")
Do a quick study on bonsai aesthetics, where the approach is never to prune, but instead to decide which branches don’t “belong” 😄 If you take that idea seriously you’ll end up with a less arbitrarily chopped looking tree ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/9 "2021-03-22T11:20:50Z")
It can be better. If your tree is too tall for whatever reason it could be time to eliminate that tree and start over, perhaps with a species of tree which doesn’t grow so tall. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/10 "2021-03-22T14:28:05Z")
Yeah, don’t top them. We have a row of pines in our backyard that unfortunately were planted directly below power lines. The electric company topped them off and now they’re all dying. Not necessarily directly due to electric company butchering, they apparently have a disease called Needlecast, but I’m sure the topping didn’t do them any good in terms of resistance to disease. > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Imgur works as it should for me: > > [https://i.imgur.com/VZXOttI.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/VZXOttI.jpg) I wouldn’t mind taking a little off the top of that! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-prune-these/938355/11 "2021-03-22T14:37:38Z")
As already stated, don’t cut down the top. Most evergreens do best with the conic Christmas tree shape, which makes them grow faster, which is not what you are after. Lop off lower limbs and trim the others down to a narrow slightly sloped cone to limit growth by limiting the area needles are exposed to sunlight. If it’s too tall already then I think @Mr.Duality is right, time to cut it down and start over. Wish I’d cut some down when they were only 22 feet tall.