Mr. Olmsted on Tree-Pruning 
ticular manner, and tufted, or plumed, or 
rounded, or laminated, as the case may be, 
like no other kind of tree, but like itself 
alone ; changed from some one of a thousand 
characters, all of which have a certain loose¬ 
ness and a certain variability, even from tree 
to tree of the same kind in the same row; 
changed from this to a comparatively Hat, 
smooth and monotonous texture of leaves 
and twigs and ends of branches, which move 
in the wind stiffly and take the light and 
shade uniformly. This uniformity of tex¬ 
ture, if consistently obtained along any given 
street, and accompanied by uniformity in 
size and shape and kind of trees, may be 
very effective, bearing out and emphasizing 
the uniformity of a straight avenue very im¬ 
pressively, as in the great avenues of Ver¬ 
sailles ; but the danger to which it runs, even 
in those beautiful and perfect examples, is 
monotony, and when done in a careless, incom¬ 
plete, half-hearted or purposeless way, and 
practiced upon trees of various sizes and kinds, 
or upon a street which is crooked or irregular, 
it has only monotony and stupidity and 
none of the impressiveness of formal design. 
While these changes in the texture of the 
foliage are of the utmost importance in 
summer, in winter the other result of indis¬ 
criminate lopping back or clipping becomes 
conspicuous. Every tree which has developed 
under tolerably stable conditions, whether 
natural or artificial, whether favorable or 
adverse, expresses its growth by a wonderfully 
beautiful branch system, which divides con¬ 
stantly from trunk to limb, limb to branch, 
branch to twig and twig to leaf. While it is 
very systematic, it is far from geometrically 
uniform, and the arbitrary cutting back 
intersects it in all sorts of places, leaving 
some complete branch system alongside of 
stumps cut off abruptly, just as they are 
getting started. The result is not merely 
unnatural, it is self-contradictory, and nothing 
of that sort can be pleasant to the eye. When 
trees are cut back uniformly year after year, 
as they are in those avenues of Versailles to 
which 1 have referred, the trees adjust them¬ 
selves to this annually-repeated operation, 
and a branch system is developed, which, if 
it lacks the grace of a natural tree, has a 
certain consistence in deformity which is 
restful to the eye; but the tree to which this 
process is applied violently, suddenly, and 
at rare intervals, presents only the deformity 
and the contradiction. 
The process of “topping” usually means 
just that, and its results are often deplorable. 
In most cases the only excuse for it is the 
lack of skill on the part of those responsible 
for the work. If size is the only difficulty, 
and the natural form of the tree is suitable to 
the situation, what is needed is the removal 
of the smaller peripheral branches, repeated 
every two or three years. If, on account of 
general appearance, or because of the un¬ 
reasonable interference with window light, the 
general form of the trees needs to be made 
slimmer or lower than they naturally grow, 
the same general method should be followed, 
only the small branches should be cut back 
on the average further on the sides, or on 
the top as the case may be; but, so far as 
possible, whether twig, branch or limb be cut, 
it should be removed completely , cut at the 
point where it branches from its parent stem, 
and not cut across abruptly in the middle of 
its length. 
The general outline of a normal tree is 
marked by its small outer twigs and leaves, 
and having determined what general outline 
is wanted, the pruner ought to remove 
all those branches which bear the twigs 
and leaves that are outside of the desired 
outline, although the stump of some of 
these branches may be a long way inside 
of it, and he ought to leave those branches 
which bear the twigs and leaves that are 
within the desired outline. However, the 
methods of pruning, to attain a given result, 
are so well set forth in the two books to 
which I have referred, that I need not dis¬ 
cuss them. 
The vital point is to know just what it is 
desired to do before one sets out to do it. If 
one decides in any case to have formal, 
hedge-like trees, he should go ahead and have 
a well-kept hedge, attended to systematically 
at least once a year; if, on the other hand, 
it is decided to have natural-looking, some¬ 
what irregular trees, they should be either 
let alone, or if they are the wrong size or 
shape, they should be coaxed gradually to 
grow the way they are wanted, by using 
means that will not obtrude themselves upon 
the attention. 
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