Pollards - Leave fingers or not

[cheesmanator]

Morning Gents, hope all is well.

 

Having an ongoing discussion at work with the gaffer in regards to leaving fingers on pollards. Can anyone give me advice on this please as training for RFS, fingers on pollards was a no no. But I could be wrong. So please give us some input on what you guys do. Whats "best practice" so to speak.....

[silky fox]

Had a few years involved in London Plane re-pollards...cut em to the knuckles..repeat every 3-5 years. Seen them done leaving fingers. Doesn,t quite look right (IMO) not sure how the tree feels about it.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

younger pollards can be done to the knuckles, young or with High vigor, the older they get the more it becomes necessary to allow stubs (with newer/younger tissues and higher dormant bud counts to remain)

[silky fox]

How long would you reccomend the stubs Tony? or will that depend on the Age/Vigour of the tree?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

How long would you reccomend the stubs Tony? or will that depend on the Age/Vigour of the tree?

 

Its a tree by tree situation, I might say 2-3ft long and then thin these stubs as they broaden cutting back to the knuckles of these stubs for a few cycles then allowing new ones to come through from the origional head hight to replace these as and when. its really all about keeping active channels (here we go watch em pick me up on that term) sap risers really help maintain function.

 

I think sap risers even just small stubs with a few buds are very important in pollarding. They maintain a flow, a connection of the vessels to roots via the vascular system

[daltontrees]

I recall BS3998 has guidance on whether to leave, and how big.

[cheesmanator]

What do you mean by sap risers? Is that leaving selected growth?

 

 

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[treeseer]

Its a tree by tree situation, I might say 2-3ft long and then thin these stubs as they broaden cutting back to the knuckles of these stubs for a few cycles then allowing new ones to come through from the origional head hight to replace these as and when. its really all about keeping active channels (here we go watch em pick me up on that term) sap risers really help maintain function.

 

I think sap risers even just small stubs with a few buds are very important in pollarding. They maintain a flow, a connection of the vessels to roots via the vascular system

 

Tony is spot on here. How much/many to leave depends on vigor, species, size and condition. The french call them tirants de seve; P. Balie wrote about this in 1933. ! Revue des eaux et Forets. any french speakers help w that?

 

I pollard Lagerstroemia here and leave sap risers according to how well the knuckle is callusing. Just 2 or 3 nodes out can make a difference. We are pruning for lasting tree health here right; the look of a "finger" here and there per need is something gaffers (don't they work in the movies?) have to just get used to.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

What do you mean by sap risers? Is that leaving selected growth?

 

 

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yes:thumbup1:

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I recall BS3998 has guidance on whether to leave, and how big.

 

 

yes, there is mention of pollards/practice, shall have to get the kindle out and get the relevant chapter out:thumbup: