Tree pruning ethics

Quite a number of people have raised their voices about the senseless ravaging of trees being carried out under the guise of pruning.

This kind of pruning makes me ask whether there is an ethic of pruning. After all, pruning is a science. Surely, there's nothing artistic about disfiguring a tree. What could the reason be? To make wood available for some of our fireplaces? Or so that we keep our cars clean from birds' droppings?

Our urban environment needs more natural embellishment like fully grown-up trees not trees transformed into wooden columns.

To cite some examples: Eucalyptus trees with all their branches shorn off look more like crooked poles; ficus trees are made to look like the ghosts of trees, leafless and lifeless; an olive tree (in a public square) was pruned in such a way as to look like a cypress.

Many times we regard a tree as a symbol of life; why should it look the opposite? Certainly there is much more to enjoy when you look at a tree fully grown than its wooden skeleton.

If pruning is a science, it should not be entrusted to persons who don't even know the names of trees.

Love of trees and a minimum background of forestry would help persons to do pruning as a beneficial service to trees themselves and the environment.