The answer to your subject line question is yes more than likely. That is a significant crown reduction during a time the tree is stressed and not dormant.

What your landscaper did is harmful and unnecessary. "Topping" trees is warned against by arborists. Se attached.

https://my.spokanecity.org/urbanforestry/tree-facts/topping/#:~:text=Topping%20creates%20a%20hazardous%20tree%20in%20four%20ways%3A,when%20they%20are%20large%20...%20More%20items...%20

my landscaper said we were due for our annual tree trimming.

==>> not what i would call a landscaper ... and definitely not an arborist .... its simply not an annual thing .... ken

That is not topping. But it IS a major crown reduction, much more than is usually advised, and is never done during a heat wave.

Yikes— any ideas how to help save it?

Water and hope. The yard appears small with few plants, unless there is more hidden out of shot. Could you manage without the ‘landscaper’? He clearly doesn’t understand his business. Well, actually, perhaps he does if it’s making money for little/poor work.

It might be beyond help :-( All you can do now is keep it fully hydrated by watering it slowly and deeply and see how it responds. If it does.

There are more severe forms of topping, but your "landscaper" did enough to do real damage,

You've not been watering the tree up to this point? Then the burning up could actually be coincidental, something that was about to happen anyway due to the weather conditions - the thinning that was done was not the same as an entire upper portion of the tree being cut off along a horizontal line. And suddenly leaving thereby the main branches fully exposed, subject to burning by the sun.

we need to ID the tree... decide if its deciduous ...

a deciduous tree losing leaves in fall ... is normal.. a bit early.. whatever ..

but if its an evergreen tree ... then it MIGHT releaf.. sooner or later.. maybe not until spring .... all you can do is water it .. and pray ...

its stressed.. .. if not dead ... and fert isnt really a response to stress ...

if and when it releafs ... we can later talk about fert ...

with trees .. we talk of tree time.. usually counted in decades ... so dont expect much of anything to change before spring ...

if you just cant stand looking at it.. just get rid of it.. and plant another or two ... whenever the proper season for that might be wherever you are ...

i see nothing to lose.. by putting a hose on a trickle.. and watering it for many hours.. moving the outlet around once an hour or so ...

ken

It's an ash (Fraxinus). These are programmed to grow much bigger than this one is (or was, if it in fact has died). And would be planted in a hot climate area primarily to function as a source of shade. So the bigger the top the better, with the thinning out of the center not really having any relevance to the tree's purpose there.

I think I would want my money back and if the tree does not recover, I would want the non-arborist landscaper to pay for the planting of a new one.........😬😬😬

debra

Hi all! It is a Brazilian Red Pepper tree. It has always been on a drip system but never watered additionally. It has thrived the years we have owned the home, until now. I have spoken to some arborists locally and they’ve confirmed it was an over-trimming at the worst time. We are now watering each side of the tree at the edge of its former canopy for 2 hours, every 5 days. We are hopeful it will pull through since it’s a mature tree. We will be seeking repayment from the landscaper (monetary or new tree!) if this guy doesn’t make it. Fingers crossed!!