To Pollard or not to pollard??

[silky fox]

pollards...you either love em,or you hate em....we are required to carry out re pollards on london planes in and around central london...these photos show a block of about sixty planes in chiswick..we have about 300 left to do...we call them bread and butter trees...our lead climber has been pollading planes for about ten years and can produce a clean pollard in about 40 minutes(longer for a very big one.london planes are already some of londons biggest street trees and we re pollard every three years...an arb officer attends site often to ensure growth is removed down to the knuckles and never further,,,this creates a neat crown away from houses and allow light to the street.....love em or hate em they are a way of maintaining this kind of street tree.....imo

[raafbeard]

Hey Silky! Worked in Chiswick area for 2 years, it was my first job when I started fresh from College I wasn't convinced with the pollards.

 

However now I think they are great and look really cool when they have all been freshly done - because you can appreciate the size and structure of the Planes. It is great to think that these trees will just get fatter and fatter over the years.

 

The re-growth as well actually looks really good to after you get passed the pom pom dancer stage (which is amusing!!) - just nice fresh shoots with clean bright leaves. It is the only way these magnificent trees can be maintained in that environment.

 

I think there is big credit due to the Climbers who did the first pollarding!

[MattyF]

 

I think there is big credit due to the Climbers who did the first pollarding!

 

Hmmm but they had a decent anchore point ,i feel for the guys who have to get out on them pollard bowls now... hat racking a tree requires no skill what so ever imo .

 

I dont mind pollarding for the right species and enviroment.

[Nimby]

I am all for traditional techniques like pollarding on Limes and Planes. Not sure I agree on the fact that it has to be done to avoid subsidence. But hey, you know what you southerners are like with your dodgy clay.

 

Also, anybody carry out any pleaching works? Looks great when done correctly.

[raafbeard]

i feel for the guys who have to get out on them pollard bowls now...

 

Yeah I can agree with that and some of them appear to be much more challenging than others (yeah ..thanks for that!). You can also spot the odd irregularities in the pruning

 

Would still like to know when they were first done and by who?

[Mesterh]

A proper pollard is a thing of beauty

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[TreeSpyder]

Ummmmmm; seems it must be an acquired taste at that!

[MasterBlaster]

Not for me.

[skyhuck]

... hat racking a tree requires no skill what so ever imo .

 

.

 

I take it that goes for dismantling and felling too?????

 

Sooooo the only "skilled" work is those "topiary" type reductions you do ??

 

I think you are skilled, the real skill you have is getting people to pay for only 10% to 15% off, I can't do it, they just say "well thats not going to make much difference is it ??" and "wont it just grow back in a few years??"

[Dean Lofthouse]

I think you are skilled, the real skill you have is getting people to pay for only 10% to 15% off, I can't do it, they just say "well thats not going to make much difference is it ??" and "wont it just grow back in a few years??"

 

I get that quite a bit Dave, so I explain to them that a 10-15% reduction results in the tree just carrying on as normal with its growth ie slow.

 

If you hatrack the tree, where you have cut one branch off you will get ten growing and they will grow extremely fast, before you know it you will have a crown exactly the same size but this time it will be ten times denser than it was before.

 

Unless of course they are willing to pay for repeated visits by me to keep trimming it back, which would suit me fine