The short answer is no. Topping, tipping, heading back and dehorning are all terms used to describe severe cutting back of a tree's crown. It is a poor arboricultural practice and should not be used for healthy tree maintenance.
Topping:
destroys the trees branch structure
gives multiple points of entry for wood decay organisms
can turn your tree into a hazard, creating a liability for which you could be held responsible
does not limit tree growth as advertised by tree toppers.
Though topping often leads to many large, fast-growing sprouts, these sprouts are attached to stubs that soon become rotten. The sprouts then become hazards as they grow larger.
The common reason given for topping is to limit the growth of a tree, but this does not occur. In reality, the fast-growing, vigorous watersprouts will actually outgrow a similar-sized tree that has not been topped in about 5 years after the topping.
