Horse Chestnut Hat rack to Pollard?

[Junkmail]

Hi I'm a new home-owner and have inherited a badly pruned Horse chestnut in my back yard. I'm not an arborist, nor can I afford one. I do however own a chainsaw

Some pictures Let me know if you need more shots.

I'm wondering if I can convert this overgrown hat rack into a pollard?

I've noticed that a top branche on the left has an extremely long limbs and what appears to be a split coming down the main trunk. Perhaps from the limb weight?
There's a lot of self intersecting and crossing limbs.
My neighbour behind has completely trimmed it along the property line to keep his RV clean.
It's a great heavy shade tree for the kids in the summer as well as privacy screen so I'd like to keep it.
I'm in Coquitlam BC (zone 7b)
Tree in the photos is pre bud, right now the leafs are just emerging.

I've looked at the rhs website and it appears to be a candidate. Pollarding / Royal Horticultural Society however in regards to pruning an overgrown pollarded tree

Horse chestnut (Aesculus × hippocastanum) needs to be cut to a higher point in the tree, rather than to the original pollards. This avoids exposing large amounts of old wood, but creates a second set of pollard heads

So does this mean I can't reduce below the cuts already made ( I don't think the original cuts were in the right places)?

I've also read that the horse chestnut is a heavy bleeder and pruning should be done after new growth, so mid summer. Does this mean I should pollard then as well? Or should I wait until Feb next year.

Not afraid to cut this back, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[deercatcher]

Hi I'm a new home-owner and have inherited a badly pruned Horse chestnut in my back yard. I'm not an arborist, nor can I afford one. I do however own a chainsaw

Some pictures Let me know if you need more shots.

I'm wondering if I can convert this overgrown hat rack into a pollard?

I've noticed that a top branche on the left has an extremely long limbs and what appears to be a split coming down the main trunk. Perhaps from the limb weight?
There's a lot of self intersecting and crossing limbs.
My neighbour behind has completely trimmed it along the property line to keep his RV clean.
It's a great heavy shade tree for the kids in the summer as well as privacy screen so I'd like to keep it.
I'm in Coquitlam BC (zone 7b)
Tree in the photos is pre bud, right now the leafs are just emerging.

I've looked at the rhs website and it appears to be a candidate. Pollarding / Royal Horticultural Society however in regards to pruning an overgrown pollarded tree So does this mean I can't reduce below the cuts already made ( I don't think the original cuts were in the right places)?

I've also read that the horse chestnut is a heavy bleeder and pruning should be done after new growth, so mid summer. Does this mean I should pollard then as well? Or should I wait until Feb next year.

Not afraid to cut this back, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

I vote you leave the tree alone. too many people have been mean to it already. Branches hold leaves. Leaves trap energy from the sun, and then the tree uses the energy,and stores it over the winter. This tree has such busy structure trying to hang enough biomass to remain viable. I don't think it is unstable, but consider what is under it, as the first question is always "What gets hit if this fails?" Otherwise, it is still in recovery over the past tragic trimming. If you see obvious dead wood, trim to the collar (look it up) in the summer. Do not head the tree in the summer. You will disrupt the energy management of the plant. Spring crop of leaves are expensive, and need to produce for the tree the whole season. If you rack it in the summer, It is obligated to activate buds intended for the next spring, and only reap half a season's production. The tree will delay abscision (leaf drop) too long, and likely loose chlorophyl to the first freeze. be nice to your tree.