I was really hot yesterday about Home Depot’s genius decision to start stocking trees and small shrubs.  I could barely communicate to you the blatant fact that the quality of their trees was almost laughable….in the sense of  ”I just can’t believe it”….laughable.

I’ve heard of “topping trees”.  I’ve seen the horrid result of such actions, but NEVER have I seen the practice applied to immature, thriving trees found at your local Home Depot.

Yesterday my jaw dropped at the sight of salable plants in March, today, my head is numb from imagining the injustice caused to the Horticulture industry as a whole.

I’m not sure of the motivations behind the butchering of these Maples but just so you know, it’s NOT general practice.  We learn about it in school, only in terms of what NOT to do.  It completely ruins the natural shape of a tree.  It encourages a plethora of small calipered, weak branching.  It’s ugly.  It’s stupid.  And it actually hurts the trees.

Just in case I wasn’t blunt enough:

Don’t “top” your trees.

And don’t buy your plants from Home Depot.

Happy Planting! starting in mid to late April

Katie