Topping, cutting the main stem of a tree flat at an arbitrary height, is the most damaging thing routinely done to Fraser Valley cedars. The big wounds invite decay into the trunk, the regrowth is fast but weakly attached, and within a few years the tree is taller trouble than before. Crown reduction, thinning, or proper hedge height reduction achieve the goal without the damage.
Cedars get topped across the valley every year, usually to protect a view, calm a nervous homeowner about height, or shorten a hedge that got away. The instinct is understandable. The method is the problem. Here is why arborists refuse to top, and what to ask for instead.
What exactly counts as topping?
Topping means cutting the leader or main stems back to a stub or a flat line, without regard to where branches are. On a cedar hedge it is the chainsaw-flat cut across the top into bare wood. On a tree it is beheading the stem at whatever height felt right. The industry consensus against the practice is long settled: the International Society of Arboriculture’s homeowner guidance at treesaregood.org has explained why topping hurts trees for decades, and modern pruning standards are built around cutting to laterals instead.
The distinction that matters is where the cut lands. Proper reduction cuts back to a live lateral branch large enough to take over, keeping the tree’s structure continuous. Topping cuts to nothing, leaving a stub the tree must either seal (slowly, and often unsuccessfully on large stems) or abandon to decay.
What actually happens to a topped cedar?
Three predictable things, and none of them are the short, tidy tree the homeowner pictured:
- Decay enters the stem. A large flat cut on a main stem is a wound the tree struggles to compartmentalize. Moisture and decay fungi get a highway into exactly the wood that holds the tree up. The rot is invisible from the ground and progresses for years.
- The regrowth is worse than the original. The tree responds by throwing up dense clusters of vertical shoots from just below the cut. These grow quickly, and they attach to the outer layers of wood rather than the core, on a stem that is now decaying at the attachment point. Five to ten years on, the tree carries its height on the weakest wood it has ever produced.
- The look never recovers. Cedars, unlike laurels, are reluctant to sprout from bare interior wood. Topped western redcedars keep their broken silhouette, and hedge tops cut into the bare zone stay brown. If the point was appearance, topping delivers the opposite.
The net effect on safety runs backwards too. People top trees to make them safer, then own a taller, decayed, poorly anchored canopy over the same target within a decade. That is the tree that shows up in our danger tree assessments with a hollow upper stem.
What should you do instead if the tree is too tall?
Ask for reduction and thinning, which are the tools proper pruning uses to solve the same problems topping pretends to solve:
- Crown reduction shortens the tree by cutting each too-tall stem back to a strong lateral branch. Height and spread come down, the shape stays natural, wounds are smaller and placed where the tree can close them.
- Crown thinning removes selected branches through the canopy so wind blows through rather than against the tree. For view concerns, thinning “windows” often restores the sightline without touching the height at all.
- Crown raising removes lower limbs for clearance over roofs, driveways and lawns.
- Staged reduction over seasons handles bigger height goals without shocking the tree, which also keeps regrowth calm and manageable.
All of this falls under our tree trimming and pruning service, and the seasonal windows that suit cedars are covered in our guide to the best time of year to trim trees in the Fraser Valley.
What about cedar hedges specifically?
Hedges are the exception people are thinking of, and even there technique matters. Emerald, excelsa and pyramid cedar hedges are pruned as a sheared surface by design, and their height can be reduced, with two rules that decide the outcome:
| Approach | Result |
|---|---|
| Reduce in stages, cut line kept within green foliage | Hedge stays dense, top re-greens, height is controlled |
| One hard flat cut into bare interior wood | Permanent brown top, gaps that never fill, dieback |
Cedars hold their live foliage in a relatively shallow green shell; behind it is bare wood that will not reliably re-sprout. A reduction that respects that shell keeps the hedge tight. A cut that ignores it converts a privacy screen into a row of brown skeletons, and at that point the conversation becomes replacement. Our hedge trimming and removal page covers both maintenance cycles and what to do with a hedge past saving. If the hedge sits on a property line, agree on the plan with your neighbour first; our guide to neighbour tree and hedge rules in BC explains who can cut what.
When is removal the honest answer?
Sometimes the right response to “this tree is too big for where it is” is that no pruning regime will ever make it right, and repeated heavy cutting will just produce an expensive hazard in slow motion. A 30 metre conifer 4 metres from a foundation, planted decades ago as a shrub, is a placement problem, not a pruning problem.
In those cases a planned tree removal and a suitable replacement species costs less over ten years than fighting the tree, and it removes the risk instead of feeding it. Check whether your municipality requires a permit first; our Fraser Valley tree permit guide covers how the rules differ between Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley and Mission.
The bottom line
Topping trades a one-day height fix for years of decay, weak regrowth and worse risk, and on cedars it also looks bad permanently. Reduction to laterals, thinning for wind and views, staged hedge lowering, or an honest removal are the tools that actually work. If someone has quoted you a “top job”, get a second opinion from us first. We will tell you what the tree can tolerate and price the version that leaves you with a healthier, safer tree.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a topped cedar grow back?
Not the way people hope. A topped cedar hedge can regrow bushy sides but the cut tops often stay ragged, brown and dead-looking for years. A topped cedar tree pushes out clusters of weakly attached vertical shoots below the cut, which regrow toward the original height faster than most people expect while being more poorly anchored than the wood that was removed.
Is topping ever the right call?
Almost never as routine pruning. The defensible cases are narrow: cutting a hazard tree down in stages during removal, wildlife habitat trees deliberately shortened away from targets, and utility clearance work done under utility standards. If the goal is a shorter, healthier tree beside a house, crown reduction to lateral branches does that without creating the decay and regrowth problems topping causes.
How much height can be taken off a cedar hedge safely?
As a working rule, modest reductions repeated over more than one season beat one dramatic cut. Emerald and excelsa cedar hedges tolerate meaningful height reduction if the cut line stays within foliage, since cedars are reluctant to regrow from bare interior wood. Cutting into the bare zone leaves permanent brown patches. An on-site look tells you where that line is on your hedge.
Why do some companies still offer topping?
Because it is fast, requires little skill, and customers ask for it by name. Proper crown reduction takes longer and costs more per visit because every cut is placed at a lateral branch. The economics reverse quickly though: topped trees need repeat visits every few years and often end up removed early, so topping is usually the most expensive option over a ten-year window.
My cedar was already topped years ago. What now?
Get it assessed before storm season rather than re-topping. Depending on decay at the old cuts and how the regrowth is attached, options include restoration pruning over several seasons to select and strengthen new leaders, reduction of the weakest regrowth, or removal if decay is advanced. The worst option is another flat cut, which repeats the cycle with weaker wood.
Published July 25, 2026 · Last updated July 25, 2026 · Fraser Valley Tree Service