pollarding

[ROLLACOSTA]

today me and a colleague had a discussion on pollarding and heavey reductions ..my colleague thought that the best time to pollard was late winter i argued for late summer..i have since carried out a google search and im still not getting any clear cut answers as there seems to be so many conflicting veiws on the web from differant bodies regarding the subject

i have come to the conclusion the only time to avoid pollarding is during a dry spell..would anyone else like too shed some light on the subject .. im talking about starting a new pollard as well as cutting back an old pollard..im also only talking about trees that are commonly pollarded

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by ROLLACOSTA
i have come to the conclusion the only time to avoid pollarding is during a dry spell..

I would add, when leaves are forming or falling. Latewinter and latesummer both have their advantages for regular pruning, though I think dormant season best for pollarding. Of course we don't pollard much here, so what do I know?

 

[SteveBullman]

supposing the pollard is done in the dormant season, what would be the effects of a heavy frost following pollarding.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

none i would guess as it's dormant

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I was taught that Pollarding was not good technique to practice. However, if it is done in the winter and you are in an area that has lots of snow it could lead to sun scald.

Kenn:Monkey:

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

outonalimb we europeans dont have nice big wide roads and streets like you have in north america so the only way we can keep some trees and provide our selves with a slightly better enviroment is to pollard our street trees no its not good for trees but it is good for humans..when a pollarded tree dies [some can live for many many years ie linden,sycamore] most local authoritys replace them,pollarding does have its good points though they are only for humans

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

i would never recomend pollarding a tree in adequete space for growing but here's a pic of some very old pollards ,just imagine these trees left to grow to full size

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

pic

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Originally posted by ROLLACOSTA
pic

i give up with bloody pics

 

[MasterBlaster]

I wonder why you can't make it work?

 

[SteveBullman]

Originally posted by MasterBlaster
I wonder why you can't make it work?

its cos hes a suffolk lad mb, they're all thick as 2 short planks down that neck of the wood.

oh wait, thats where im from

doh

 

[Gord]

I don't know why pollarding has such a bad rep around here. when done properly it makes for easily managed, interesting looking trees. i vote for pruning in late summer so that the trees look a bit better during the dormant season.

just because doesn't fit in with the proper pruning textbook it doesn't mean it's not something that should be done. some of the oldest dated living trees in europe were pollarded/coppiced/hacked at one time. many species do very well when properly pollarded. i'd rather see a good tree pollarded than cut down and replaced with some ugly fastigate prunus or malus or pyrus that's prone to every disease in the book.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've done a few pollards and my shcedule has been to do the "repollard" work in early spring before the buds swell. This allows the first flush of growth to go into making the new sprouts.

The second best time would be after the first flush has hardened off and produced some sugars to be replenish those just used. Whzt I see as disagvantage here is that the tree will be trying to produce stem diameter growth along with the replacement sprouts and wound wood.

From an evolutionary stanpoint, when are woody plants damaged most? Winter browse, so they are "programed" to grow faster at the tips durring spring time.

Just an opinion though