RE-establishing pollard cycle

[sean freeman]

Hello all, hoping that someone on the forum might have knowledge of an exaple of a lapsed pollard 15-25yrs being brought back into cycle.

 

I have for many years observed street tree avenues (mostly London planes) which were once pollarded on a regular cycle (unsure of the exact frequency), but which have in the last 15-30yrs not been so intensely managed and other than some minor branch reductions (presumably in response to complaints - reactive work) have not been regularly attended to.

 

I have seen examples in many towns and cities in the UK (where I went to high school and college) and in various parts of Australia (where I lived for 26yrs). Now I am in NZ (just outside Auckland) I pass along numerous very beautiful double avenues of London planes but know that their current growth cannot be left unmanaged for another 20yrs.

 

I am on the board of the Auckland Tree Council and want to find any examples of similar trees for which the process of bringing them back into a pollard cycle has been attempted. At some point the municipal authority is going to have to address the long term management of these avenues hence my interest.

 

I will put up some pictures of various streets to illustrate the issues but I am sure that this a topic that many of you are familiar with.

[Peter]

I have repollarded lapsed Limes, at a guess 20-30 years of growth 40-50 feet tall and up to 12" diameter, and they all thrived afterwards.

 

Not done a Plane in a similar situation though.

[sean freeman]

Thanks Peter, when you were re-cutting the Limes were you working at or around the previous pollard heads or did you make a decision to create a new higher pollard head?

 

It seems to me (certainly with the Planes in Auckland) that the extent and size of growth following the cessation of pollarding makes working to the previous head a very tricky process - not least because of the size of the injury the pruning cuts would cause.

 

I apologise for the delay in replying but being a born again groundie takes a lot of my time and energy...I'll get some pics up of typical examples of the avenue situation soon.

[Peter]

Just above the original pollard, so aiming to recreate the original head.

 

 

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[sean freeman]

Before the work were the trees assessed in terms of the predicted response to such large wounds...I guess what I mean is were there any trees that you felt were almost too far gone to get them back to the original pollard heads?

 

Were these limes on private land or part of the streetscape (just wondering about the wider public perception of the works and the need to 'prep' the public for the dramatic impact such pruning has, both visually and functionally.

[sean freeman]

Some pictures illustrating the current London plane avenues around Auckland

 

 

 

 

[Peter]

Not sure, I was just the tree killing machine in those days. LA owned trees, public space. Mixed reactions from the general public.

 

 

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[cl3525]

We did some for Hammersmith Council over a year ago. The Planes were taken back to the original pollard points on the main stem. They were done in january, to my knowledge they are doing well, lots re-growth.

 

As far as I can remember the work was done because of one case of subsidence so all the London Planes on the street and neighbouring streets got done.

 

Got a mixed response from the residents about it, at the time.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

planes are bomb proof pollards, they go through a shedding period after 2-3 years then stabilize, knock em back to stubs 2-3 ft long if too many poles close together thin out the thin ones by going back to collor on those, stubbing the bigger poles for a smaller cut and reducing potential for wounds to coalesce together

 

 

IMO

[treeseer]

planes are bomb proof pollards, they go through a shedding period after 2-3 years then stabilize, knock em back to stubs 2-3 ft long if too many poles close together thin out the thin ones by going back to collor on those, stubbing the bigger poles for a smaller cut and reducing potential for wounds to coalesce together

 

 

IMO

This is a hard prune but seems like sound science behind it.

 

I would first ask "what is the objective", and if it's just 1 safety and 2 low mtc cost and 3 high contributions, I would suggest going from the outside in. Reduce those that seem too heavy on the end to be supported by the base, and keep all the contributions delivered by those lovely full crowns.

 

Who wants to be RE-establishing pollard cycle? Why?