T
Treevet
Guest
ok....? Have a good day. I'm headed out.
rumination
Migratory Hippie Arbolist
Now, now children...
Thor's Hammer
Wolfish. Sometimes Bites.
'a hole' market? asshole market? market in holes? maybe a whole market?
Hey TreeVet, I've been to Cincinatty once. You ever been beyond the US? Old wives tales eh? Thing is, there are french books on correct pruning techniques and decay paterns from the 1800's. Its something we do know about. I have a degree in Urban Forestry and Arboriculture - so research is something I'm familiar with.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
It must be a soil thing over there orrrrrr something, cuz over here 4 outta 5 trees that I've topped and later checked them were stone dead.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
wow, and they still sell the service!
Thor's Hammer
Wolfish. Sometimes Bites.
You could be quite correct - I also think its very species dependant.
Let me add a little analogy to my opinion...
You work and live in the city and vacation comes and you take your family out to a beautiful park in a very remote area. You are camping and you see a bear. You all are in awe of its natural and unaccustomed presence.
Then as he turns and walks back into the woods, you see something on the back of his ear, and it is a tag with the number 47 on it. Everyone looks at each other and thinks, "that ain't right".
I don't get the analogy, sorry.
I don't advocate pollarding wild trees in the woods.
If you sit and relax in the shade in a spanish outdoor restaurant, enjoying a few tapas and a glass of chilled fino sherry under the sycamores, which have been carefully pruned and pollarded over time to form a flat canopy to keep the sun out, Do you then get irritated over the fact that the trees aren't "natural" and think: "that ain't right"??
It is!
Very few species lend themselves to pollarding: sycamore, linden, horsechestnut, some poplars and willows are the only ones I know of.
They probably have more further to the south, we northerners are not exactly gifted with an abundance of species
J
jomoco
Guest
It is!
Very few species lend themselves to pollarding: sycamore, linden, horsechestnut, some poplars and willows are the only ones I know of.
They probably have more further to the south, we northerners are not exactly gifted with an abundance of species
Hey Stig,
Are there any good books on proper pollarding procedures?
Here in SoCal, we have chinaberry trees, also known as texas umbrella, and I think they would be good candidates for pollarding.
I really like the idea of an arborist working the same tree over 20-30 years to achieve what I feel is living art.
Have any pollarded trees ever reached full canopy coverage with the elephants feet mushroom ends?
I like topiary art too.
jomoco
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
I have been pollarding a few Fruitless Mulberrys up here and they do just fine. Took them over from another tree guy that retired. I can see why they do them and they do quite well being done that way.
Also, I do have to top live and white oak pretty regular. I do it to help them BTW. It's called mistletoe removal and they do quite well with the nasty removed. Sometimes you have no choice for the health of the tree if the homeowner wants to keep the tree. So does that make me a hack.. I don't think so:roll:
Also, I do have to top live and white oak pretty regular. I do it to help them BTW. It's called mistletoe removal and they do quite well with the nasty removed. Sometimes you have no choice for the health of the tree if the homeowner wants to keep the tree. So does that make me a hack.. I don't think so:roll:
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Treevet
Guest
If you hacks are gonna correct inadvertent misspelled words, might wanna run a spell check on the post you're doing it in (Cincinnati).
BTW. yeah, I've been around plenty.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
You crazy nergos.
T
Treevet
Guest
Yes. I can only give my opinion, I cannot give your opinion. I do not like the look of a topped tree esp. when dormant. Sorry. Cocktails or not. Non topped trees do not give shade?
You mentioned earlier that you were going out to top a tree, later calling it pollarding. Let's try this out...
Pollarding-specialty pruning technique in which a tree with a large-maturing form is kept relatively short. Starting on a young tree, internodal cuts are made at a chosen height, resullting in the development of callus knobs at the cut height. Requires regular (usually annual) removal of the sprouts arising from the cuts."
If this is a definition that you would accept, it is from the ISA, then the "young tree" part of the definition is a part you are missing.
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Treevet
Guest
The big college Webster's got no answer to that one?
I'm gonna take it as a compliment. 
M
Mr. Sir
Guest
Butch likes that word. It's definitely a term of endearment. 
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Haha.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Pollarding is a very popular method of trimming in many geographical areas. If done on an annual basis it can even be considered a form of prunning. Many trees adapt well to the practice. Though considered hack work by the purest and main stream thinking today the method has actually been in sound practice for over 200 years.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
I've seen some interesting pollarding done on trees planted close to a tall fence, where the trees were meant to be kept below the fence height. The effect was like a living irregular lattice work against the simply designed solid flat fence. It created a pleasant atmosphere, and was rather artistic.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Thanks, Jay and many others here. I'm glad to see I not alone on this way of thinking.
The sycamores in and around the De Young Museum in SF have been pollarded annually for longer than I have been alive and they're the same today as the first time I seen them in the latter 50s. Oh yeah, they have the club foot alright, but it doesn't slow them down. No rot pockets and no liability. The trees look beautiful every growing season.
It is not as evil of a practice as the purest perceives it. The trees do just fine. It works there and many other places.
The sycamores in and around the De Young Museum in SF have been pollarded annually for longer than I have been alive and they're the same today as the first time I seen them in the latter 50s. Oh yeah, they have the club foot alright, but it doesn't slow them down. No rot pockets and no liability. The trees look beautiful every growing season.
It is not as evil of a practice as the purest perceives it. The trees do just fine. It works there and many other places.
J
jomoco
Guest
This British study of pollarding suggests that properly pollarded trees actually live longer than a normal tree of the same species.
http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfinternational/images/aboriculturalnotes.pdf
The ancient tree forum?
jomoco
http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfinternational/images/aboriculturalnotes.pdf
The ancient tree forum?
jomoco
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Treevet
Guest
That is just a very interesting article Jon. Asks as many questions as it answers but future information should be expected to follow this as I see it.
I would like to know the difference between pollarding and topping, if any. I am no virgin. I can describe many. Most prominent was a 500 year old Bur oak (measured with an increment borer), 140' tall (measured) that blew apart in a downshear and crushed a house next to it. It had 3 other codoms that were split by it, one giant one that would have finished the house off. I topped it to laterals about 8 years ago and it has not shown a dead twig and is lush and healthy. I have to inspect it for decay this spring. I literally risked my life doing that tree but the pay was good.
Do you guys wear spikes when topping/pollarding? If so, why when it is only some more injury.
What constitutes the need for turning a tree into a pollard and is there a consideration for age or size. I am sure target figures in.
Seems to me the need for this was initiated by separating the tree from the woods and allowing it to attain a decurrent form,
I would like to know the difference between pollarding and topping, if any. I am no virgin. I can describe many. Most prominent was a 500 year old Bur oak (measured with an increment borer), 140' tall (measured) that blew apart in a downshear and crushed a house next to it. It had 3 other codoms that were split by it, one giant one that would have finished the house off. I topped it to laterals about 8 years ago and it has not shown a dead twig and is lush and healthy. I have to inspect it for decay this spring. I literally risked my life doing that tree but the pay was good.
Do you guys wear spikes when topping/pollarding? If so, why when it is only some more injury.
What constitutes the need for turning a tree into a pollard and is there a consideration for age or size. I am sure target figures in.
Seems to me the need for this was initiated by separating the tree from the woods and allowing it to attain a decurrent form,
J
jomoco
Guest
There are certainly city codes that demand your trees can only be x number of feet tall so as not to impede a neighbors view, like in La Jolla and other seaside cities.
Pollarding also makes good sense in high wind ridge top properties whose trees would otherwise be uprooted or fractured.
jomoco
Pollarding also makes good sense in high wind ridge top properties whose trees would otherwise be uprooted or fractured.
jomoco
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
My pollarding clients have small lots. If the mulberrys were to let go, they would encroach the house etc. These trees are screening elements ( two are between the fence and house hiding a highway) and also providing shade in the heat of summer on the south side of the houses. Being they are mulberrys, they leaf and branch out quickly with each pollarding. These two clients have the pollarding done every other year. Sucker growth is trimmed back each year.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
And as for the why, I could not find the original article I had read, but wikipedia had some info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding
In the past.. mostly for feed and fire wood purposes. I think I also remember basketry was another. The wood would be harvested for making things etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding
In the past.. mostly for feed and fire wood purposes. I think I also remember basketry was another. The wood would be harvested for making things etc.
High Scale
Trust fund lobbyist.
Do you mean do all you guys in the whole of Europe wear spikes when topping/pollarding? Or world wide?
Sigh, what a stupid question, same old, same old.
Say, do you guys in London, England drive cars?
