RE-establishing pollard cycle

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

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?

 

why not, pollarding is a very goodway of managing trees in dense urban zones, I drove through a wonderfull avenue of pollarded limes yesterday.

[sean freeman]

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?

 

Hi Guy,

 

Last question first...at this stage no-one (in the LGA) wants to do anything other than reactive cutting when footpaths/kerbs/driveways etc become disrupted by tree roots, or branches grow into service lines. HOWEVER...as I know you can see these avenues cannot be left in their current 'unmanaged' state for much longer.

 

I do not have the answer for any of the beautiful avenues but seriously considering and reviewing pollarding has to be (IMO) one of the practical approaches in the mix.

 

As I am sure you remember I am not of the opinion that trees (even lapsed pollards) are about to throw branches through houses cars and buses or dump onto passing pedestrians....in my mind this is an issue of taking stock of the current street tree assets (which IMO are absolutely priceless!) and developing management strategies to ensure the community continues to benefit from these beautiful trees.

 

All that having been said of course such management should properly consider balanced and proportionate assessment of risk.

 

pollarding is a very goodway of managing trees in dense urban zones, I drove through a wonderfull avenue of pollarded limes yesterday

 

I agree Tony pollarding can be exactly that, in this case as in many others where pollard avenues remain (albeit lapsed) returning the trees to a cycle is (I think) entirely worth proper consideration

[treeseer]

this is an issue of taking stock of the current street tree assets (which IMO are absolutely priceless!) and developing management strategies to ensure the community continues to benefit from these beautiful trees.

 

All good, but benefits come to a great extent from crown volume, do they not?

 

And re-pollarding will diminish that volume substantially, true?

 

So that loss of benefits should also be in the mix, yes?

 

Along with the shock factor and educational work with residents, the time and success rate of all that...if i was in one of those homes you would have some time explaining reasons to justify that loss of shade etc. etc.! And if in x years decay from those cuts lead to failure...

How many stag beetles are redlisted in NZ?

 

One potential spec would be: Reduce limbs 1-4 m, with cuts <10 cm, removing <15% crown volume.

 

All this from a biased perspective, with limited experience working on plane trees.

 

Hoping your new job of assistant brush bunny is going well!

Never too old for that kind of fun, lemme tell ya.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

All good, but benefits come to a great extent from crown volume, do they not?

 

And re-pollarding will diminish that volume substantially, true?

 

So that loss of benefits should also be in the mix, yes?

 

Along with the shock factor and educational work with residents, the time and success rate of all that...if i was in one of those homes you would have some time explaining reasons to justify that loss of shade etc. etc.! And if in x years decay from those cuts lead to failure...

How many stag beetles are redlisted in NZ?

 

One potential spec would be: Reduce limbs 1-4 m, with cuts <10 cm, removing <15% crown volume.

 

All this from a biased perspective, with limited experience working on plane trees.

 

Hoping your new job of assistant brush bunny is going well!

Never too old for that kind of fun, lemme tell ya.

 

pollarding prolongs life, not shortens it, longer useful life longer amenity value.

 

Stag beetles in Plane?

 

all trees have a finite life span in town, they grow up, then in nature they grow down, when they grow down, well they never get the chance in towns! they get felled, but a pollard stands defiant with the most hideous of cavities and bracket fungi abound, high vascular function is maintained via renewal and shorter transport distances, making them more drought tolerant.

[treeseer]

"pollarding prolongs life, not shortens it, longer useful life longer amenity value.

 

When sited in the open and done right, yes. On those streets sheltered by bldgs, gotta wonder how high the risk will be and when.

 

" a pollard stands defiant with the most hideous of cavities and bracket fungi abound

 

Yes glorious in the park,

but what city-dweller wants to see these in front of their milliondollar house?

 

" high vascular function is maintained via renewal and shorter transport distances, making them more drought tolerant.

 

This is the probable result of the more conservative reduction, while avoiding shock to the tree system.

 

So Sean, what is the biggest cut that would be expected to close on those trees?

[sean freeman]

"pollarding prolongs life, not shortens it, longer useful life longer amenity value.

 

When sited in the open and done right, yes. On those streets sheltered by bldgs, gotta wonder how high the risk will be and when.

 

" a pollard stands defiant with the most hideous of cavities and bracket fungi abound

 

Yes glorious in the park,

but what city-dweller wants to see these in front of their milliondollar house?

 

" high vascular function is maintained via renewal and shorter transport distances, making them more drought tolerant.

 

This is the probable result of the more conservative reduction, while avoiding shock to the tree system.

 

So Sean, what is the biggest cut that would be expected to close on those trees?

 

I am not sure that for any of the avenues I have visited thus far that shading from adjacent buildings would be a major concern, I suspect for some residents shading from the Planes (when in full leaf might be an issue for their chosen soft landscape, certainly the leaf and fruit/seed drop is).

 

I would entirely agree that meaningful consultation with the residents and broader community would be a must.

 

I personally think that pollarding is part of the reason the avenues have lasted this long, whether returning the trees to a pollard cycle is the best approach I suspect will hinge on the specific circumstances of each avenue and even the status of the majority trees within each avenue.

 

I do not ever think one size fits all, but the reason for the thread was to try and get a sense of what has been done (or not) in the UK since I know there are many Plane avenues in dense urban areas in numerous British cities, I have also read a couple of planning documents from LGA's in the UK which refer to this very process and the steps they suggest should be followed.

 

Planes are exotic to NZ and whilst there are no 'Red List' species (sadly just like Oz NZ has not yet grasped the importance of that prioritising process!) it would be very hard to mount any kind of argument (that had credence) that Planes were supporting threatened invertebrate communities. The loss of native vegetation and ecosystems has had a tragic impact on NZ wildlife of all kinds...anyone visiting here would attest to that - the forests are almost completely silent (with a few very notable exceptions)