Pollarding liquid ambar

[treebrother]

I recently moved into a new place with a few ambars. I took a closer look at them a they look like they've been pollarded. Has anybody done this or seen it? theyre fairly immature trees no larger than 18 inches in diameter. thanks treebrother

 

[jefflovstrom]

I recently moved into a new place with a few ambars. I took a closer look at them a they look like they've been pollarded. Has anybody done this or seen it? theyre fairly immature trees no larger than 18 inches in diameter. thanks treebrother

Haha! In California, a liquidambar at 18 inches and immature trees. Yeah, they are done that way depending if you live in an HOA or managed property. The roots will grow on more vigorously due to the topping. If you own the trees, I would get rid of them.
Jeff :msp_smile:

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

Like Jeff said, I would get rid of them. The shoulnt be any less than 30ft. from a foundation...roots will cause havoc, branches snap easy...

 

[imagineero]

in aus, they're a pain in the ass. For some reason I can never understand, they occasionally get planted as city trees. I'm guessing because they're cheap and hardy. The seed pods they drop are hard, spiky and notorious for causing twisted ankles. They are a very vigorous tree, and when I do removals I generally price in poisoning the stump at least 3 times, and when grinding poison any trace roots with glyphosphate at a concentration of 300/l+ in both cases. They tend to sucker up from the roots all over the yard after removal unless you are very thorough with poisoning.

Having said that, they are a hardy tree. They have a somewhat similar appearance in the foliage to london plane trees with the obvious difference of the rougher bark and the seed pods that are a pain. They do keep to a single dominant leader, I've never seen a bifurcated example. They don't mind being pruned, no matter how heavy handed or inept the pruning. Maybe thats why the city plants them.... Whether you top, lop, tip prune, or whatever you need to do to avoid buildings and powerlines, liquidambars just keep on quietly going about the business of being a vigorous tree, with very little epicormic growth if any. That makes them low maintenance and low cost. I wouldnt want one in my backyard, even if my backyard was huge. Keep them far far away from pipes. Contrary to the above posted comments, I havent found them to be prone to snapping.

I enjoy removing them, the holding wood isn't great but it's predictable. Most councils in aus dont require permits for their removal under a certain height, or within a certain distance of pipes. From what I've read the wood has some value stateside, but we dont use it in aus. It's crappy firewood, but has some value as a veneer. Residential trees probably have no value as veneer.

Shaun

 

[Bowhunter01]

Pollard them right at the base...with a big saw! Best thing for em.

 

[treeseer]

Very common here in NC. Great trees in the right place imo. Restoration after hard reduction/pollarding can be quite successful.

 

[Chud]

I Pollard London Plane and Sycamore every winter. The trees are 100+ yrs old and growing 10ft from the foundation of 100yr old buildings. The heads on the Sycamore are bigger than basketballs.

 

[treeseer]

I Pollard London Plane and Sycamore every winter. The trees are 100+ yrs old and growing 10ft from the foundation of 100yr old buildings. The heads on the Sycamore are bigger than basketballs.

Hey I'm an hour away and would like to see that. buzz me when scheduled if you get a chance; would like to document. uttahere2: