Pollards, the forgotten art-discussion

[MattyF]

MattyF, did Shigo turn people against pollarding though? I thought he simply said that pollarding is properly done on a regular cycle and cut back to the same point, and therefore that chopping the ends/tops off branches whenever we feel like it does not constitute pollarding and should be avoided.

 

go on arborsite and discuss pollarding with the yanks !

ancient managment of those pollards discussed would of been done with an axe and probably all over the place imo

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

MattyF, did Shigo turn people against pollarding though? I thought he simply said that pollarding is properly done on a regular cycle and cut back to the same point, and therefore that chopping the ends/tops off branches whenever we feel like it does not constitute pollarding and should be avoided.

 

erm, can I please just point out that shigo's research was based in the U>S>A, what would he see of pollarding? not a great deal of old polalrds in the states my friends!

 

no disrespect to Shigo, another of my heros, but he did lead the arb world down a route of fear for the Demons of D, when in fact, that is old hat.

[paradise]

To play devil's advocate for a moment, why should the yanks pollard? As far as I know it's not traditional practice there - not sure the native americans did it did they? We do it these days to preserve traditions and ecosystems - if that tradition doesn't exist in the US perhaps they shouldn't be do it. This logic is, admittedly, different from an irrational prejudice against pollarding, but the end result is the same.

[Catweazle]

Are you trying to make a point that trees naturally self-pollard by the actions of rot in the trunk ? And that we should learn a lesson from this and not be afraid to pollard the occasional mature tree ?

[paradise]

But seriously, as far as I know Shigo never said you shouldn't pollard properly. I can't link to his actual books but I did a quick google and here is someone's summary of what he said:

 

Untitled Document

 

He just distinguished between good pollarding and bad pollarding. If you are arguing that he got that dividing line wrong, go ahead, but it's not true to say he didn't like pollarding at all.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Are you trying to make a point that trees naturally self-pollard by the actions of rot in the trunk ? And that we should learn a lesson from this and not be afraid to pollard the occasional mature tree ?

 

 

There we go! its a bit more involved than that but yes in essence, but also suggesting that some obserations may well lead to techniques that will enable us to assist some of our most treasured pollards into imortality.

 

and not just rot, but form genetics

 

thats where i want to push it

[skyhuck]

If a tree wants immortality, layering is a much easier way to go, just allow a limb to touch the ground, bingo!! new trunk same tree!!!!

[paradise]

Okay, so you're putting forward a theory that what we generally call 'pathogenic' fungi can extend the life of a tree?

 

If so, it's an interesting hypothesis, but I have a scientific mind - I'd want to see the data. I suppose what we'd need to see would be studies of the fungal associations (and their properties) in trees that have lived to extraordinary old age, versus maybe trees of more 'normal' age or perhaps trees that have died recently of 'old age'. Perhaps there is already data out there about this? It could be difficult to separate out other environmental factors though.

[skyhuck]

Evolution is blind.

 

A limb fails due to decay, light hits a dormant bud, the tree can not "chose" to shed the limb.

[Stephen Blair]

i thought big trees could shed limbs in summer.