Street of Topped Trees. (Vid)

[Bermy]

It seems there is much debate around here lately between European tree care and US tree care. Do trees respond better to that method of trimming in Europe? I know what becomes of them here.

Topped trees like that would not fly in the UK either.
There is a difference between topping and pollarding. Some species take well to pollarding , lime, planes, but it is a planned and managed approach, NOT the random mutilation shown in the video.

In Bermy land we can thrash casuarinas, but back to unions or small side branches...like 80%, but a topped one will only look like a shaving brush in a few years, and the shoots can peel off in the wind, oh yeah we can spike 'em too! (my guilty secret)

 

[treebogan]

Most of the very old Trees I work on,have been Pollarded,topped,then re-topped for two or three centuries.

Oaks,Beech,Lime,Scots Pine,Ash (fraxinus excelsior) in fact if it wasn´t for them being hammered occasionally they would have fallen apart or been felled as a nusence long ago.It is amazing at what some species will put up with.

 

[stig]

My temporary inability to upload pictures meant I didn't get to post these when we were discussing it.
Better late than never, right.

These linden are to my knowledge about 200+ years old.
As you can see, they were at one time topped severely, basically the whole crown taken out so just the stem was left in about 1012 feet height.
Then after regrowing, they were pollarded and kept that way.
At least that is how I read the scar tissue.

They are pollarded yearly, hence the small size for their age.
Generations of castle gardeners have worked on them to keep them that way.

 

[Burnham]

Very cool.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Very alien.

 

[Burnham]

That, too.

 

[stig]

Think of them as giant bonsai.

That is pretty much what they are.

 

[Pelorus]

They musta been naughty trees to get punished like that.

 

[stig]

They are alive.
If they hadn't been pollarded, they would have outgrown their space and been felled.

Simple as that.

 

[Pelorus]

They are alive.
If they hadn't been pollarded, they would have outgrown their space and been felled.

Simple as that.

Wrong tree planted in the wrong spot justifies periodic scheduled Edward Scissorhands protocol. I get it.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've seen Bonsai, and those trees are no Bonsai.

 

[Pelorus]

They are Giant Bonsais. Gorgeous ones.

 

[Pelorus]

I've seen Bonsai, and those trees are no Bonsai.

Holy Cow! That looks incredibly old and cool!

 

[MasterBlaster]

I bet he could sell it for a pretty penny!

 

[Pelorus]

I bet he could sell it for a pretty penny!

Yup. But I dunno about them Giant Pollarded Bonzais.
They belong in front of Hitchcock's motel in Psycho.

 

[stig]

This has been answered plenty in the "Treework before & after" thread, so I'll not get into it here.

Except, your profile doesn't show your age. I'm guessing 17, that is usually when one sees the world in shades of absolute black or white

Ever been out of Ontario, dude?

 

[Pelorus]

Have never been over to your side of the pond, (and no real craving to get there either), dude.