Re-growth after pollarding a mature hornbeam

[TreeHuggerOrNot]

I'd like to have our hornbeam pollarded, could anybody tell me how much it will grow after a couple of years, then after five years and then ten years? When will the branches be as thick as my arm?

 

We have a big problem with pigeon mess under the tree and am trying to get an idea of how quickly the pigeons will be back.

 

Thanks for any info.

[Steve Bullman]

They will be back pretty much straight away i'm afraid. Reducing that tree won't solve your problem. Plus I might add that is a cracking little specimen, it would be a real shame to do anything at all to it

[Ian C]

Shoot the pigeons.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Arbtalk mobile app

[Treemoose]

Just make sure you hit a pigeon and don't take the neighbours window out!

Then eat the pigeon.

 

I agree with Steve it's a lovely hornbeam. Is suffering pigeon poop worse than looking at a pollard?

 

If the pigeon poo bothered me that bad I would probably remove and replant something smaller pigeons wouldn't roost in.

 

Also how thick are your arms?

[treesrus]

that's a lovely tree, don't mess with it. get a cat for the pigeons.

[Jon3012]

Lovely tree, bird scarer maybe, big plastic owl. A lot cheaper and you get to keep the tree, regrowth can be amazingly quick for a healthy tree.

[Stubby]

Harris hawk decoy up in the crown .

[TreeHuggerOrNot]

Have a look at the pigeon mess in the photos I've attached. I have small children and a garden that is 90 feet so don't want to devote a quarter of it to pigeons!

 

We tried the lethal method but it is too tricky with all those neighbours overlooking us and more pigeons just arrive. I've read bird scarers don't work unless they are moved, we have lots of red kites here as well and they don't put the pigeons off.

 

It is a lovely shape but I've reached the end of my tolerance with scraping up pigeon mess before it gets all over my children and their toys. If anybody knows that a decoy does work (actually seen it working) we are willing to try.

 

Thanks for any feedback.

[treesrus]

"We tried the lethal method but it is too tricky with all those neighbours overlooking us" - it is legal to shoot pigeons with an air rifle, but you have to stand under the tree and shoot straight up. otherwise, any reduction you do won't stop the pigeons. i have the same problem, (the tree has to come down for other reasons), but i have lived with it for 20 yrs.

[woodyguy]

I hate to sound unsympathetic but the tree has been there a long time and the pidgeons are a natural part of trees. I do understand as I have a tree about 3x that size outside my house and the pigeons are about 3x the problem. But they were there before me so I live with it and clean it up if it irritates me. But as to cats crapping everywhere.......

[TreeHuggerOrNot]

From reading on the web wood pigeons are moving into towns (like foxes have) as life is easier, I guess from all the bird feed put out. A town near us we used to live in doesn't have lots of pigeons so I'm not sure it is natural when our tree is not a wood! We think the tree is fantastic (pity about the house behind!) but I cannot tolerate the mess any longer. I stop my children going out on days when I can't face scrapping it all up - it is big dollops, not the small splats one gets from birds.

 

I'm keen to hear more about the air rifle option, we did some reading, again on the web and thought you can only shoot if they are a public nuisance. Presumably I could pay somebody from the local rifle club if it is legal, I live in a small town where everybody knows each other and I don't want to become know as the local exterminator!