Any tips for pollarding ancient willows?

[Mr_Brushcutter]

Hi

I'm going to be pollarding some ancient willows ~200 years i would say. They've not been done for a long time. I've been reading about pollarding ancient trees and from what i've read they don't seem to respond too well although that was Oaks and Hornbeams.

Any tips for doing it? They really need doing or i don't think they'll make it through any sever wind storms. Did a quote a few days back and there was a lot of trunk movement during the 30mph gusts due to the weight and movement of the top.

I was going to do a lot of the work with a pole saw, one is probally going to need some climbing and some basic rigging to stop the rubbish going next door. I'll try and get some photos for you.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The thing is, are you really going to pollard, or are you euphimizing for a topping?

If it will be a true pollard, and the tree had been treated so in the past, it may still work. My concern is that you're talking about material large enough to need rigging, on a genus that does not compartmetalize well.

Allso, are you establishing a cycle of maintainance? Pollarding is basicly keeping a tree like a hedge. Pruning back to collars on a regular cycle.

How will the heads respond to decay?
Will they grow fast enough to grow a stable shell aound the decay that will develop, or are you creating a future hazard?

If this is an old pollard that has been left to grow, one method may be to thin the heads this year, then repollard at a later date at the old heads, as the close up, or further out on branches that were sprouts years ago.

The key is to have wounds that are small enough for the new growth to close up, which is why Shigo recomends an approximate 1 inch limit.

I've seen some fast growing pollards on 3-5 year cycles that have bigger cuts, but many of these are kept relatively short.

Lastly, very old trees that have never been treated like this will go into decline after pollarding be cause they are in a state of balance with stored energy and foliage production. They have just enoguh dynamic mass to hold the system in senescense.

 

[turnkey4099]

I don't know the type of willow you are working on and I'm not an expert anyhow but...

I use willow for firewood because it is cheap and trimmed a few for neighbor. I Cut a lot of old 100 year plus trees. Without exception they have rot at the base, many with nothing but a thin ring of good wood, and many have rot where a branch broke from the stem in the past. They will put out water sprouts at any cut on a branch or main stem.

Harry K

 

[treeseer]

Crown reduction per ANSI will stop a lot of that movement and not make huge wounds. Use a pole pruner more than a polesaw.

 

[Mr_Brushcutter]

No i do mean pollard whats happened is that a small local organisation that run a community nature reserve (~4 acres) and asked us to pollard for them. We've taken the job on and were basicly doing it for costs. They've had it for a number of years and contiued the pollarding cycle, however due to their finacial situation they've not been able to do it. So they've not been done it at least 3 years.

Its going to be part of a regular cycle probally 3-5 years i'd personly perfer a 3 year one because of the rot,sturtutral dammage to them.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Nearly all pollarded trees i have worked on have shown signs of decay at the head of the pollard,this is simply part and parcel of pollarding..I would say willows growing in a nature reserve will produce regrowth with out any problems ,question is if the trees are on a 4 acre nature reserve why pollard ?? nature [wind] might damage the tree's this is nature!!!

Creating artificial environments ie pollarding the willows is detrimental to nature !! why not leave the tree's well alone trees,this practice IMO is much better for nature.However if you do have to reduce the tree's for health and safety purposes i would recommend coronet/natural fracture pruning..

 

[jamie]

for ecological stuff i cant see pollarding being any good whatso ever, much better to create deadwood / environments suitable for saproxylic organisims. could the pollarding be a management program to illustrate the process?

jamie

 

[Mr_Brushcutter]

Basicly the place is an old water cress farm thats now been turned into a community nature reserve. The pollards have been there for ages and ages i'd say there at least 150 years. They were probally pollarded as part of the place being a water cress farm. You do see a fair few anicent pollards and coppice stalls here in hertfordshire.

As its a nature reserve its open to the public so dodgy pollards cause a big health and safety problem. The worst one that i'm tempted just to do before the permission comes through because it looks like it really could fail due to crown weight. That one can drop on someones shed whos house backs onto the nature reserve.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It sounds like it's being done to show the publice a once common cultural practice.

If there are several of them, maybe you could do a staggerd cycle so people can see what a "proper" pollard looks like.

one thing to concider, is that many oc the truly ancient trees in developed areas are pollarded. They are maintained out of the heavy wind, so gale force storms do not caus seriouse damage.