Topping, Pollarding, or what??

[oceans]

Whatever the choice, that tree requires future management. Pollard on a 2 or 3 year interval would be my recommendation other than R&R.

 

[The Green One]

Here is a link to some valuable insight regarding Pollarding. :

https://www.ancienttreeforum.org.uk/resources/videos/veteran-tree-management/

Scroll down, and watch the Lecture by David Lonsdale on the Management of Pollards.

I's say shoot Mr. Lonsdale an e-mail, but sadly he passed away in 2024.

 

[evo]

Looked at these trees this morning.

Client wants to cut the growth back about to where the bigger main branches end. You might be able to tell it has been done before.

Instinctively my first thought is “topping”but I also know that aggressively pruning like this is a technique some people use.

As far as I know, the client used to cut it back themselves but hasn’t been able to because it’s gotten to be a bit too much. So my question is, is this something you’d do or do you think it has gotten too big for that kind of pruning to actually be beneficial.

They also said that they want to make the trees shorter to hopefully make them become more wide…

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Personally I’d call that ‘retopping’ it’s not legit pollarding and it’s more of a hybrid management somewhere between topping and pollarding.
Wait till risk of the last hard frost has passed. Or better yet push for a removal/replacement strategy

 

[flushcut]

Looking at this tree I’d say cut it back to where they “pollarded” it before. The tree is already fooked so why not. Maybe use it as a case study.

 

[southsoundtree]

The formatting of the linked page is 'off' for me.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I already got the contract and the job is set to be done towards the end of February / early March which is what they asked me to do. I wrote everything down in the estimate about how there are risks to the tree, that it would require continual maintenance for it to be effective, etc. They thanked me for my notes when they emailed me back telling me they wanted to move ahead with the project.

I’m not sure it would be wise to go back now and start advocating for removal / replacement, although I suppose I could find a way to mention it if I really wanted to without coming across like I’m trying to steer the client one way. Plus who knows, maybe they would take my advice and start caring for it on a regular basis.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

What I was wondering is when making the final cuts, would you just do one flush cut at the “head” area where the stems are growing out of, or make an individual cut for each stem?

 

[ghostice]

I've always tried to cut each stem individually, finish cut above the branch collar. The times I've done these, trying to cut small stems all at once, say with a top handle, ripped the stems more than cut them cleanly. It would be like trying to trim a hedge with a chainsaw, which can leave a ratty mess sometimes. Have a look at Climbing Arborist dot com on Youtube - Dan has a video showing pollarding of larger stems. Cheers.