Tree Surgery
Pollarding
A hard cut back to the same framework, repeated on a cycle.
Pollarding cuts a tree back to a framework of main stems and then repeats that same cut every few years, so the tree holds a fixed size for the rest of its life. Willow, lime and poplar take to it well, and it is common on street trees and on anything planted too close to a building.
Once a tree has been pollarded the cycle needs keeping up, because the regrowth gets heavier and less securely attached the longer it is left. If a crown reduction would suit your tree better, we will say so.
When pollarding is the right job
A willow, lime or poplar, which all take to it well
A tree planted too close to a building
A tree pollarded before and now due its next cut
A fixed size you want held for the rest of the tree’s life
Willow cut back to its pollard points
Summer regrowth on a pollarded willow