pollarding elm success?

[mattyboy]

I have customer who wants to heavily reduce several 30yr old elms overshadowing green house etc. Do they respond well? will they survive?

[skyhuck]

Should be fine, in fact may even prolong its life, as could reduce the risk of it be attached by the Beatle.

[Rough Hewn]

Brighton and hove are covered in heavily pollarded elms. [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[mattyboy]

Excellent makes me feel better about hammering them back!

[Stephen Blair]

11 hours ago, mattyboy said:

I have customer who wants to heavily reduce several 30yr old elms overshadowing green house etc. Do they respond well? will they survive?

Less leafs, less food for the Beatle.  Les chance of their saliva spreading the disease.  It’s nature, the strong will survive, thinking human intervention will make a difference to the overall outcome is a typical human control response when we just don’t know. 

  

[skyhuck]

6 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

Less leafs, less food for the Beatle.  Les chance of their saliva spreading the disease.  It’s nature, the strong will survive, thinking human intervention will make a difference to the overall outcome is a typical human control response when we just don’t know. 

  

Personally I don't think its about leaves, do the beatles even eat the leaves?

 

I think its down to cambium thickness, the beatles lay their eggs in the cambium and the lava tunnel around in there eating as they go, this does not harm the tree, but unfortunately the beatle caries the fungus, so the tree becomes infected. Young trees and some mature tree don't became infected, is this because their cambium is too thin? Thats what I think.

 

I've heard theories that young trees below 5M are below the flight path of the beatle, but I find that pretty implausible.

 

If my theory is correct, pollarding young trees will stunt them, possibly keeping the cambium thin and thus protecting them.

 

 

[essential]

Brighton and hove are covered in heavily pollarded elms. [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

think that's to do with the South downs not that they're pollards

[Dan Maynard]

I've also heard the flight path theory, and we do have some elms near us which are in a hollow and much taller than 5m without being infected, but when I asked last about the mechanism I didn't get a very definitive answer.

The eggs get laid right in the top of the tree where the branches are young so not sure I totally follow your cambium thickness theory. I don't know the answer though.

[Stephen Blair]

8 hours ago, skyhuck said:

Personally I don't think its about leaves, do the beatles even eat the leaves?

 

I think its down to cambium thickness, the beatles lay their eggs in the cambium and the lava tunnel around in there eating as they go, this does not harm the tree, but unfortunately the beatle caries the fungus, so the tree becomes infected. Young trees and some mature tree don't became infected, is this because their cambium is too thin? Thats what I think.

 

I've heard theories that young trees below 5M are below the flight path of the beatle, but I find that pretty implausible.

 

If my theory is correct, pollarding young trees will stunt them, possibly keeping the cambium thin and thus protecting them.

 

 

Interesting stuff Huck, my 6 pony Friday night reply was miles off then ?

 I was told the disease was carried in the Beatles saliva .  Most of the weeping Elms survived the longest in areas I’ve worked over the years.  Would they be similar to a pollard as I think the weepers are grafts.

[Mick Dempsey]

29 minutes ago, Stephen Blair said:

Interesting stuff Huck, my 6 pony Friday night reply was miles off then ?

 I was told the disease was carried in the Beatles saliva .  Most of the weeping Elms survived the longest in areas I’ve worked over the years.  Would they be similar to a pollard as I think the weepers are grafts.

I read up a little on this,  with reference to Weeping  Elms.