# Pollarding?



## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

hi guys.

first off, sorry asking such a :newbie: question, but in all honesty that's what I am. Im working with a tree surgeon as much as I can, and reading as much as I can and somehow funding my NPTC courses whilst studying a completely unrelated degree before I do a related HND afterwards.

anyway, I know I should read this in a book, but i dont have the cash at the moment for a good book (for example, modern arboriculture sells here on amazon for about 50 quid upwards!)

but, ok humour me here. Ive read everywhere about topping out a tree being bad, and learnt the principles behind proper pruning, thinning etc. (note I say principles, not having chance to have put them into practice as yet) but the next thing I want to know about is pollarding. 

now it seems to be a common practise, but Im aware that doesn't necessarily make it a universally accepted practise. is it?

here comes the rookie question. A lot of pictures I have seen make the pollards look like topped out trees, some just look a mess, some are deciduous broadleaves and they seem to resemble more of a palm tree shape in the trunk when done (bulge at the top) and some end up dead.

my question is, is pollarding a good or bad practise, or just a good practise often in the hands of bad practitioners? from what I gather, it seems to be a similar idea to topping out, cutting back big limbs which in turn stimulates smaller growth for the next year?

If im honest, I'm a little baffled. All input is gratefully received. When learning all this off my own back I try to surround myself with knowing minds, hence being here


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## tree_beard (Mar 10, 2007)

pollarding is basically coppicing, but at a height that grazing animals wont eat all the new shoots.

in municipal situations, trees are often pollarded to keep them a manageable size.

however, pollarding is much like topping, most trees respond badly to it. the new growth the tree puts on at the top of the trunk stump is weak and must be removed yearly or at least every two years to retain any health/crown stability.

lime trees in particular respond well to the practice and are often seen pollarded in british towns.

it is a rather outdated practice, still carried out because if it wasnt, the trees pollarded 30 years ago, would be dropping all their weak rotten crowns all over the shop....

hope that helps


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## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

ok so its mostly like I thought then, it's not an ideal thing to do, but a necessary evil in some cases?

the main thing that got me thinking about it was my girlfriends folks have a large cherry tree in their front yard which was recently reduced to trunk and essentially half length brances because it was pushing on the house and reaching the telephone/electric wires overhead. It looks to my eyes, terrible now, so I'm hoping that it regains some growth even though it will be rather unsightly no doubt. I can understand it needing removing every year though, as the joint to the tree will not be a proper bond


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## tree_beard (Mar 10, 2007)

you got it. people round here seem to love topping fruit trees, thinking only about what they see as 'lovely new growth' and not realising they have effectively sealed that trees fate by letting rot into every limb.


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## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

so what's the procedure for doing such a thing? since i dont have access to a book at the moment, especially not in a music college library hehe?

i mean, like when removing a limb entirely the limb is removed a short way out from the trunk and then the stub removed, preserving the collar so that the wound heals effectively,

we recently did an apple tree for a client that they wanted pruning down to size but wasnt a big tree in the first place. the tree looked daft before we started, we only took off minimal outward growth, but im assuming the tree had been heavily pollarded as there was almost exclusively vertical new growth on the tree.

in the case of pollaring, is there any observance of nodes, or in fact any natural characteristics of the tree, or are the branches essentially just sheared off whilst leaving a generally acceptable shape to the tree and at least some possibility of the form filling out with foliage during the year? 

thanks again


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## tree_beard (Mar 10, 2007)

pollarding usually involves cutting off all limbs where they meet the trunk, just leaving a standing trunk.

as i said most trees dont like it, lime is the exception, most streets in my town are lined with heavily pollarded limes.

it really isnt a technique of tree care at all, it is for coppicing in areas where deer prey on new shoots. all trees will suffer and decay if put through the process.



loads of basic info on the net if you look for it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding


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## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

ah my bad then, 

the tree i was talking about hasnt been pollarded at all it seems, but the knowledge re: pollarding was my prime interest anyway, the tree was merely a wrongly placed example


i suppose the term I would therefore use is over-pruned. i know it's just been winter but it looks so very bare. if memory serves, there is no young growth on it at all, it's a trunk with a collection of branches that terminate at smallest with a cut face of maybe 3"

am i over reacting, is this something the tree will completely recover from and be back better than ever? or is this a case of a landscape gardener with a chainsaw and an itchy throttle finger?

my apologies if it's a daft question, I'm just trying to understand right from wrong all over again as it were


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## Thetreewisemen (Mar 10, 2007)

Pollarding and topping may appear to be the same practice, HOWEVER they are not! I haven't got time for a complete explanation here.Try and find an article written by Kim D. Coder entitled 'Pollarding, what was old is new again'. The article appears in an I.S.A publication called 'Tree maintenance.....a collection of CEU articles'. Google it......


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## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

Thetreewisemen said:


> Pollarding and topping may appear to be the same practice, HOWEVER they are not! I haven't got time for a complete explanation here.Try and find an article written by Kim D. Coder entitled 'Pollarding, what was old is new again'. The article appears in an I.S.A publication called 'Tree maintenance.....a collection of CEU articles'. Google it......



thanks very much

tree_beard, i saw that wiki page earlier as it goes, however understandably im always a little wary of wiki's information and it was more of a technical nature I was seeking anyway, but thanks for running through it with me


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## sawsong (Mar 10, 2007)

brilliant article!

it seems to my understanding that what may be going on here is tertiary or free-form pollarding. they are not shown on the diagrams, nor can i find a picture on google, but if they are further on from secondary (on the main branches not on the trunk) then that is probably what this is...

or is it pruning the first time, pollarding when it's done over and over?


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## Thetreewisemen (Mar 10, 2007)

Kind of!? Get ISA certified!!!!! and get ahead in the arb world.


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## lxt (Mar 10, 2007)

sawsong,

tree "terminology" so to speak has changed over the years, IMO to benefit a professor becoming a new author of some book related to trees.

example:
topping is bad so lets call it drop crotching, now lets call it roundingover(roundovers) ooops nah lets call it crown reduction and prune(pull ends) back to laterals 1/3. HONESTLY i dont think anyone knows!!!!! 

10 yrs from now biologists will tell you crown reduction has changed to something else cause its healthier for the tree. Good luck in tryin to figure it out.

LXT..........................................


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## treeseer (Mar 10, 2007)

lxt said:


> tree "terminology" so to speak has changed over the years, IMO to benefit a professor becoming a new author of some book related to trees.


The last pruning book did not change the terms. They've changed as these practices are considered at ANSI meetings. There is a great difference between all the terms you mention, if you think about it.

For instance, the old standard said that pollards start with internodal cuts. Now the next standard will not say that, because the committee was persuaded that pollards can (and should?) be started at nodes.

By the way, that change was the result of a comment from the field, showing that the process is open and transparent. I think that's a good thing. If you are interested in terms, the iSA sells a Glossary for $7 I think.

I think pollards are good things too, when they are done right to the right tree.


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## underwor (Mar 10, 2007)

A pollard done right, is just a collection of drop crotches to a branch collar. The large pollard head is the result of trees storing carbohydrates near where they are use. There is a lot of energy in that knob. Once started, it must be kept up, or it becomes a hazard very similar to topping.


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## Thetreewisemen (Mar 10, 2007)

underwor said:


> A pollard done right, is just a collection of drop crotches to a branch collar. The large pollard head is the result of trees storing carbohydrates near where they are use. There is a lot of energy in that knob. Once started, it must be kept up, or it becomes a hazard very similar to topping.



I agree, if a pollarded tree is allowed to resort back to it's normal growth pattern after years of pollarding, stuctural failure will likely occur.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 11, 2007)

underwor said:


> A pollard done right, is just a collection of drop crotches to a branch collar.



I have to disagree, Guy's use of node is more correct then collar.

One removes all growth above the node. A node can be a branch union or a bulge in the branch that is cluster of latent buds. 


> latent bud (′lāt·ənt ′bəd)
> 
> (botany) meristematic tissue whose development is inhibited, sometimes for many years, due to the influence of apical and other buds. Also known as dormant bud.



The loss of auxin up stem from the node causes the node to sprout out



> aux·in (ôk'sĭn) pronunciation
> n.
> 
> Any of several plant hormones that regulate various functions, including cell elongation.
> ...



This is where pollarding departs from topping and roundovers, because there is some discrimination and science in the method.

the cuts must be relativly small, Shigo recomended 1 inch, some can be bigger. Species counts too, the tree must sprout rerdilly, and comparmentalize well. Though fast growers like willow can do well.

We are using the survival responce of limb failure, where fast growing succulent sprouts are generated to replace the loss of leaf mass (dynamic tissue).

A regular cycle of removing the shoots is a must, I've read in the past that more then 3 years becimes problematic. Annual dorment prunning seems best at this time.

At the maintinance cycle, thenthe regular collar cut comes into play. All sprouts get removed past the collar, like any sprout removal. The collars and fast growth usually compartmentalize the wounds.

Scaffold branches must be kept short enough to bear the load of the pollard head over time since they often cannot develop caliper. The Ginkos at Stanford are a good example, the past few years have seen some limb failure.

Some of the oldest urban trees in Europe are pollards because they can weather the century storms. There are many antique peices of furniture with huge slices of pollard veneer. These anicdotal examples show that if a tree is properly maintained, it can survive a very long time with this management technique.

Topping is indescriminate reduction.

Drop-crotch is a descriminating reduction that leaves a large wound on the wrong side of the collar. Often large wounds and much sprouting. It can cause decay, but is the lesser of the "evil"

Roundovers are usually an indescriminate reduction for purely aesthetic reason where small cuts are used to maintain the size of an ornimental tree. All branches are reduced to give the tree a "good" rounded form. This causes sprouting and fast succulent growth, narrow crotch angles and higher deadwood loads as some sprouts fail. Many people us it to keep large trees to one size and shape. It is ofte derided as lollypoping or gumdroping trees. Also witha raise and gut on crapapples as "umbrella form". While a questionable practice for the tree, it does offer a practitioner a revolving account along with topiary and shrubery. (why do I have lines from "Holy Grail" running through my head?)



> to·pi·ar·y (tō'pē-ĕr'ē) pronunciation
> adj.
> 
> Of or characterized by the clipping or trimming of live shrubs or trees into decorative shapes, as of animals.
> ...



Topiary and espalliar can be traced back to Roman times, I've heard of pottery records from earlier civilizations.



> es·pal·ier (ĭ-spăl'yər, -yā') pronunciation
> n.
> 
> 1. A tree or shrub that is trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall, often in a symmetrical pattern.
> ...



So in short, if you practice a technique with the growth habits of the species in mind, and the clients expectations and knowledge of the labor involved, it is not a bad thing.

Thanks to http://www.answers.com for the dictionary quotes.


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## Thetreewisemen (Mar 11, 2007)

I agree with what the man above wrote!


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 11, 2007)

Thetreewisemen said:


> I agree with what the man above wrote!



Thank you, thank you v'rymuch.


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## Ekka (Mar 11, 2007)

I think Underwor was refering to the pollard head as a collar ... removing growth back to the pollard head but do not remove the head..

Well said JPS.

It has also been written that true pollarding commences when the tree is young. If the initial cuts are made into 100% sapwood (no heartwood yet) then that's an ideal start. But to commence it on a well established tree where the cuts will be through large dia limbs is not really pollarding and the tree could even die from the treatment especially if totally defoliated.


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## lxt (Mar 11, 2007)

JPS, 

well said but lets hope that no one changes the definitions uhh? as for dropcrotching definition or your given opinion Im not sure which, I disagree!! large wound on wrong side of collar If done wrong yes!! but not true as a whole.

round overs-indescriminate reduction for cosmetics. Maybe!!

topping -indesciminate reduction/ or necessary reduction not always but sometimes, right?

pollarding, has been done for a long time, shigo might have said 1" diameter but the "term" is suggestive of a practice, not relative to branch size.

"terminology" treeseer, is a compilation of NEW!! idealogies and are subject to change based on factual data which derive from the majority`s opinion, however what is old is new again!!! as I said, I dont think anyone is 100% certain. only the creator!!

take care, this point can be argued for eternity!! LXT............


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## Ekka (Mar 11, 2007)

lxt said:


> JPS,
> 
> well said but lets hope that no one changes the definitions uhh? as for dropcrotching definition or your given opinion Im not sure which, I disagree!! large wound on wrong side of collar If done wrong yes!! but not true as a whole.



Not in the case of co-dominant and collarless unions. However the collar tends to be on the trunk and not the branch (defending so that when the branch is cut not vice versa), or more likely on the secondary branch not the primary and in many cases it's the primary that's being cut off to shorten the tree.


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## sawsong (Mar 12, 2007)

heck, this was a bag of worms well and truly opened. :monkey:

I think i understand now. thanks all who have contributed so far!


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## underwor (Mar 12, 2007)

> Drop-crotch is a descriminating reduction that leaves a large wound on the wrong side of the collar. Often large wounds and much sprouting. It can cause decay, but is the lesser of the "evil"



JPS, 
It depends whether you are dropping down a long branch to the crotch, as opposed to heading it back, or if you are dropping down the main stem to a branch crotch. 

You are saying that the pollard shoot comes from one of many nodes at the end of the current growth rather than being one of many epicormic shoots triggered from the lack of auxins to control them? Is there similar compartmentalization occurring at each node on a twig?

Always out to learn more.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 12, 2007)

underwor said:


> JPS,
> 
> 
> You are saying that the pollard shoot comes from one of many nodes at the end of the current growth rather than being one of many epicormic shoots triggered from the lack of auxins to control them? Is there similar compartmentalization occurring at each node on a twig?
> ...



They come from the node if the cut is made there. The density of of buds is greater at the node, so you will get better responce, by cutting above one..

At the time of the initial treatment, you will get sprouting all over, but more closer the the cut.

It appears to me that the wound wood will generate new buds, not linked to the pith each year.

You will get budding on both sides of the collar, eg on the pollard head and the base of the shoot. I've used both for next years growth, not knowing which would be best for the plant. What I look for most is angle of attatchemnt if I'm thinning the head in the beginning of the season.

I've started a number of pollards, mostly mulberry. I've only got one set that i take care of left. My buisness modle does not lend it'self well to long term programs.


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