Crown lifting

[Swannytwo]

Can anyone enlighten me please. Does crown lifting (oak) help the RPA in any way?

 

Sounds silly, but wondered if you restrict the foliage, then it surely must help the root system

[Andy Clark]

Nope, none what so ever.

 

Trees generally grow in proportion, and will have a root system that corresponds with their crown. Reducing the crown, even by minor removal via crown lift, does not automatically reduce the root system - it just means less crown volume for the same root system. (Which is why tree generally tend to grow back like buggery when you give them a good wallop.)

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Off the original question a bit, but what about pollards?

 

If faced with pollards in a proposed development area for example, would it still be valid to calculate RPA from stem diameter and table D1?

 

Or might that be a case of digging exploratory pits to check the spread of the root mass and then presenting "a soundly based arboricultural assessment of likely root distribution"?