What is a head cut?
The head cut is a very strongly reducing method of crown cutting. With it, deciduous trees are intensively domesticated for aesthetic purposes and raised to maximum uniformity. That is why you can find "decapitated" trees especially in botanical and other show gardens, in which accurate trellises are laid out. Linden trees, along with plane trees or horse chestnuts, are popular candidates for this shaping practice because they generally tolerate them well.
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With the head cut, the Treetop kept to a minimum throughout. To do this, you shorten all the shoots every year to just above the buds. The tree sprouts again and again at these points - and is cut there again in the following year. As a result, these areas thicken and become the “heads” that give the method its name.
The top cut method again at a glance:
- strong shaping, minimalizing crown cutting method
- is preferably practiced during espalier walks in show gardens
- Shoots are shortened in the same place above the buds every year
- the resulting thickenings are called "heads"
Critical Aspects
Such a radical cutting method is of course actually unnatural and should be carefully considered for the sake of the biological balance of the tree. After all, the root, trunk and crown of every tree should actually form a static equilibrium. There is hardly enough space in any garden to allow a linden tree with a height of up to 30 m and a crown span of up to 15 m to unfold without being disturbed. An occasional, simple pruning of the crown is certainly sufficient in most cases and completely unproblematic for the linden tree.
Since the head cut is a massive intervention in the natural growth biology of the linden tree, no mistakes should be made. The most important rules are:
- the head cut must be started with the young tree so that the tree can get used to it
- do not cut branches thicker than 5 cm
- the heads must never be injured in the subsequent cuts
- Basically, well-sharpened and, if possible, disinfected cutting tools must be used
It is best to have a head cut done by professionals.
