Heavily trimming mature trees

[Silverado_Express]

Looking for expert advice from people like @Danger_Ranger and others that know horticulture/ arborist science.
I have a strip of "woods line" that divides my property and the vacant lot beside me. It has some tall "hardwood", sweet gum, poplar trees in it that I'd like to get "topped" to make them shorter and worry about them blowing over less during the storms as they are right beside my shop, which I tend to park everything I can in during storms, and my house. It seems like the wind always blows from the vacant lot towards my house so it's always raining sticks and branches onto the roof of the shop. Ideally yes, I'd like to just get rid of the gum trees all together but they provide a lot of afternoon shade for the shop and house.

Is there a way to trim them that much without killing them? Will they be okay to rebranch out off the trimmed limbs without fear of those new limbs being weak as they get bigger since they are sprouted off and old limb? In my mind I'd like to just have them regrow the canopy/ tops down about 30ft or so to give them less leverage in the wind.

 

[Danger_Ranger]

You can top them back and keep them alive. But you need to do it during the winter or maybe early spring.

 

[Silverado_Express]

So wait until November December or just when all the leaves are gone? Anything to worry about with them sprouting off existing limbs?

 

[Danger_Ranger]

November or December should be fine. They will probably have sprouts off the existing limbs next spring. That's what sucks about cutting trees that have been topped in the past, they have a ton more limbs to cut lol.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Not quite the same, but the top of this oak broke out at about 25-30ft up during a storm in 2015ish. It was a 70ft tall, leggy forest tree that I saved when I cleared our land. I was pretty devastated when I came home and saw the top of the tree laying on the ground because it was one of my favorite trees and one of the only hardwoods that was near the house. But instead of cutting it down, I decided to let it grow and see what happens. It filled and branched out nicely. Here’s a picture from 2020, and it looks even better now.