For more about mal-pruning...

Here is a link that might be useful: Welcome to PlantAmnesty

Just for fun:

Tree tips for homeowners:

1. If it can't fit where it's planted, remove it.

2. It's not "too tall" if there's nothing above it. The sky doesn't have a ceiling.

3. If it's too WIDE, and you're afraid it will fall on the house, and you can't remove a limb to solve the problem, see #1

4. If it hasn't gotten leaves for three years in a row, it's dead. Please, cut it down, it's NOT coming back.

5. If there are Christmas lights on it and it's after February, please remove them.

6. If you just planted a tree and it looks like it's dry, water it. Watering a tree does not consist of dumping the dog's water bowl on the trunk. A tree needs enough water to reach the roots, which are a lot wider and deeper than you think.

7. If your yard floods, a cactus isn't a recommended plant.

8. Those little pine trees they sell at Target at Christmastime will not grow outdoors in Minnesota.

9. Most people working in the garden department at Home Depot are stupid. Don't listen to them.

Aren't you preachin' to the choir here?

Oh, and BTW, there's a big difference between topiary, pollarding, and topping.

I think if you have to prune it every year (to make it fit the space), you picked the wrong plant or the wrong location.

If you have to prune it every year to maintain a certain shape, you obviously like chores.

Every day I don't have to prune is a day to be thankful!

"Oh, and BTW, there's a big difference between topiary, pollarding, and topping."

Of course. I've got nothing against any of these in the right setting. However, 99% of what you see isn't in that setting.

In the City (San Francisco) a lot of people hack their trees into a "hatrack," leaving no foliage. If the tree doesn't die, it results in the most hideous forms I've ever seen. Can anybody explain what they hope to achieve by this?

On the other hand, a neighbor chopped down two pine trees and left fifteen-foot branchless stumps. I thought at first this was incomprehensible. Then one day I looked over and saw two vultures perching on them!

How appropriate.

Re: "4. If it hasn't gotten leaves for three years in a row, it's dead. Please, cut it down, it's NOT coming back."

The only exception I would make to this is if you have a large property, and there's no risk of the tree falling on a house or posing harm to people or property, then I would consider leaving it up as a snag. While not aesthetically pleasing (and barring any of the aforementioned risks), dead trees aren't just dead trees; they serve a useful purpose for wildlife:

Here is a link that might be useful: What You Can Do For Wildlife

hairmetal, it's not just HOMEOWNERS doing this, of course !

There are quite a few complete idiots around here, who usually drive around in trucks with NO decals or magnets, who say they're in the "tree trimming business", and who by-and-large... DESTROY the asthetic and functional futures of most trees that they cut on....usually by "topping" them, as you mentioned.

Some years ago I got a flyer on the door for a (now defunct) company named "Topless" tree service.
Just for fun...I called them, finally got someone on the line who worked with "the crew", and asked a little about their typical pruning methods.
It only took me 2 MINUTES to figure out that "Topless" was just a name to attract certain customers' ATTENTION; and that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with this specific company's philosopy about trees !!!

byline - you are correct in a large property setting, but in a suburban yard or a city park, cut them down. I can't tell you how many dead snags are standing right in view of upscale homes, city or county parks, etc. around here that have been dead for 3 or 4 years.

Experts agree don't top your tree

Around here I see old large water oaks die all the time from topping. Most tree trimming services don't care one bit if your tree dies or is damaged in future years, they just want the money. Over the last several years I've probably counted 7+ Large Water oaks die from topping and the entire tree has to be cut down by the end of the year. It's not smart for the people calling for topping, and not smart at all or just non-caring from the trimming service.
And trees that can survive that are lucky will have a lot of weakness from the poor weak branch attachments, disease attacks, and rot can get in. Also the top trees that could survive are now like the infamous Bradford pears with all the narrow twiggy branches crowded on the stub ends and spit off very easy in a storm leading to more rot and damage. All this make the tree more and more unhealthy and they can decline fast.

Why Topping Hurts and can Kill Trees:
Why Topping is Bad
Why Topping is Bad

"Eight Good Reasons (NADF, 1989) to NOT "Top":

Starvation: topping removes so much of the crown that it upsets the crown-to-root ratio and limits the food-making ability of the tree.
Shock: the canopy of leaves casts shade on the internal branches. Topping removes the shade and exposes the internal bark to sun scald.
Pests and Disease: topped branches have large wounds that cannot seal nor defend the wound from insects and decay.
Weak Limbs: new sprouts develop at the edges of the cut branches, and are weakly attached. If the stub rots, the sprouts will break even sooner.
Rapid New Growth: height control by topping is doomed to fail. The new branches grow fast and furiously to the original height, but much more crowded.
Tree Death: some species, e.g. beech, do not tolerate topping and the reduced foliage may cause the tree to die.
Ugliness: topped trees are so disfigured that they will never recover their original grace.
Cost: topping can be done quickly because good decisions about pruning are not needed. But trees that die will need replacement, the ugly trees reduce property values, the dead stubs become liabilities, and more maintenance will be needed."

My next-door neighbors provide no end of examples of poor pruning techniques, let alone all the horror-shows I see while driving around.

The neighbor on one side prunes all his shrubbery into meatballs, except for the row of Lilacs that he prunes into a long rectangle like a Boxwood hedge. When I pointed out that the Lilacs wouldn't bloom if he shears the top of them, he said "I like them like that." Last year he decided the electric hedge clippers weren't adequate, and used the chain saw to shear some of his meatballs.

The neighbor on the other side also prunes numerous Yews (and they have a lot of them) into assorted shapes, such as meatball, meatloafs, and bullets. He also has a tendency to butcher his trees. Every Spruce, Fir, and Pine on his property is limbed up about 20 feet, severely weakening some of the trees because he has removed nearly half of their foliage. The White birch in front are limbed up and pruned so severely every year they look like lollipops. The White birch in back were simply topped and now look like they are growing mohawks. It hurts my eyes to look at the trees on his property.

Some pics:

These poor Spruce -
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Here are the topped Birches -
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Last year they transplanted these maples from one part of the yard to another - not surprisingly, they are pretty much dead this Spring -
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We have one of those 15ft stumps. A woodpecker made a home in it and other birds use it as a house so we have left it. We've considered chopping off the very top and hanging it as a bird house lol.

As far as bad pruning goes:

Low maintenance != No maintenance. I don't think anything on this property was ever pruned. We are in the process of removing broken stubs left from branches damaged in storms. The foundation shrubs look better this year after a little thinning last year but they are still a little rough looking.

Arrghhh!!! My eyes!!!

Those mangled trees in the photos are truly sad - what is wrong with people?!

*sigh* Poor trees!

I think some people consider trees nuisances and obstacles that need to be worked around and abused to do one's bidding. Which is bizarre. It's a tree. It's just standing there. It's not going to attack you if you don't beat it up with a chainsaw every year.

I don't get what limbing 20 feet up would achieve. There are a few trees like that on campus, but I'm pretty sure that's from weather damage (Bad wind storms frequently). If you need to clear the way for pedestrian or automobile traffic, nine feet would be more than enough. Given that those trees in the picture aren't near much of anything...