Treeaddict
Treehouser
Helping my friend and neighbor get some light on his pool. I need to take out the right most limb/leader. Silver maple - mature. I don’t want to cut it close to the trunk because of the species known weakness to compartmentalization. Fear it would introduce rot to the trunk and we’d loose the tree after some time. My current plan is to pollard it where circled in red on one of the photos. He can maintain the sprouts every few years with his pole saw to keep weight down if necessary. Would Rather introduce decay away from the trunk and maintain weight than cut closer. Id use a come along maybe 5’ below the cut to secure the limb to the trunk even there is no evidence that leads me to believe it would separate. Little worried about barber chair so may do the cut in 2 sections. Bull line will be added for a warm and fuzzy feeling to keep it away from the pool. What do you all think?