Pollarding question: Chainsaw v Axe.

[agg221]

How historic do you want to go?

 

Sylva, or A Discourse on Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions by John Evelyn written in 1662 is about as historic as they go!

 

An excellent read actually - not sure whether you've read it yourself but I picked up a copy of the third edition (1679) cheaply some years ago and it's still surprisingly valid in parts.

 

Alec

[HCR]

I've read parts of it (you can view it on Google Books) but I've never owned a copy. I might wait for the sequel, due out in 2013.

[Sal]

Brilliant, thanks. I've found the preview on Google books so will take a look (although it looks like there is a paperback copy on Amazon for under £10 so may just buy it).

 

Cheers

[treeseer]

The tools used are one thing--if saws make smaller wounds they seem preferable--but where the cuts are made is the heart of the matter:

 

We were measuring;

distance between terminal bud scars before & after the reductions on the retained growth.

How far back the callous tissue had retrenched down from the cut stubs.

Which orientation the stubs were cut to.

 

i had a golden opportunity to assess this in an urban context, but only came away with rough observations. still the retrenchment seemed informative. bottom line: cutting to nodes results in more stable regrowth and better closure.

AA Car Canopy.pdf

[David Humphries]

I don't believe the results have been published yet, but the recent return trip may be part of a final summation. So there may be something in the pipeline.

 

 

The article has now been published and can be found in the current Arb journal.

 

"Helen J. Read , Jeremy Dagley , Jose Miguel Elosegui , Alvaro Sicilia &

C. P. Wheater (2013): Restoration of lapsed beech pollards: Evaluation of techniques and

guidance for future work, Arboricultural Journal: The International Journal of Urban Forestry"

 

 

 

.

[Sal]

Brilliant! I'm not an AA member (yet) but I know a man who is so hopefully he'll let me have a quick read. Thanks

[Danavan]

Cheers for the post & thread David.

 

Working for an AA approved contractor next week so will ask him for a look, if thats where I can find it.

 

Will be an interesting read & will look fwd to the follow up on the BB pollards that I was their to see being done (& had a little go at with the axe on an oak for fun their too on the same day)

 

Skillful workmanship that is whealding an axe on live dynamic wood with precision.