I AM shocked and saddened to see most of the big, well-grown trees along the main road in my hometown of Kangar, Perlis, cut. The scaffold branches of about 25 to 30 trees along a few stretches have been reduced to a stub!
The area where trees are most needed is in front of SMK Derma, where pupils wait for their parents in the shade. We need trees to breathe. Without them, we can potentially die due to lack of oxygen. Trees help to clean the air. They also provide environmental benefits, for example, the ecological cycle.
I rang up the Kangar Municipal Council and spoke to the officer in charge of Seni Taman (landscaping). When I asked what the council had done to the trees, she said it was a “trimming” exercise.
She explained that the trees can grow very fast and the council had done this before elsewhere. Furthermore, it was the rainy season when new branches would grow in no time.
When I asked her if the council had consulted any arborist from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) or had any related expertise bofore the exercise, she said no.
As the council was so concerned about public safety and utility poles, lest untoward incidents happen during the wet season, it took the decision to “trim” those trees.
I checked with the Kangar Hospital to find out if there had been any casualty due to uprooted trees and there were none. I Googled and found out the chance of being hit by a falling tree is very minimal. In fact, this “trimming exercise” should be done during the dry season to protect the stubs from being attacked by fungus. So, the authority is putting those “trimmed” trees in danger. I appreciate their prioritising human lives, but they should use their discretion and judgment for a win-win situation.
There are several terms used in gardening. We can trim, cut, pollard or prune a tree. The council’s exercise was to “top” them, which is more likely to kill a tree.
Topping occurs when the vertical stem (leader) and upper primary limbs (scaffold branches) on mature trees are cut down to stubs at uniform height. Topping is also referred to as heading, stubbing or dehorning.
This is what normally happens if a decision is made by someone who is only thinking of taking the easy way out. The management should at least find out if it is the right way to do it.
In this modern era, if you are not sure of anything, you can simply find the answer and useful information online.
The local authority can refer to FRIM. There are many arborists out there and you can easily get their professional advice before taking any drastic action.
I contacted FRIM Kepong and got useful information from their arborist.
Eight good reasons not to top a tree:
STARVATION: Topping removes so much of the leafy crown that it dangerously reduces the tree’s food-making ability.
SHOCK: By removing the protective cover of the canopy, bark tissue is exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The resultant scalding can cause the tree’s death.
INSECTS AND DISEASES: The exposed ends of topped limbs are highly vulnerable to insect invasion or decay by fungi spores.
WEAK LIMBS: New branches that grow from a stubbed limb are weakly attached and more liable to break.
RAPID NEW GROWTH: Instead of controlling the tree’s height and spread, topping has the opposite effect. New branches are more numerous and often grow higher than before.
TREE DEATH: Some species cannot tolerate major branch loss. At best, they remain weak and disease-prone.
UGLINESS: A topped tree is a disfigured tree. Even with new growth, it never regains the grace and character of its species.
COST: The true cost of topping is often hidden — lower property values, and the expense of removal and replacement if the tree dies.
I hope the local authority will refer matters to the experts before undertaking future “tree trimming”. They can help determine the necessary “trimming” (pruning) to improve the health, appearance and safety of trees.
My thanks to Dr Ahmad Zuhaidi Yahya and Ahmad Azarudin Mohd Noor from the Urban Forestry Division of FRIM Kepong for the information provided.
n NAZLY AHMAD,Langkawi, Kedah