Pollarding

What it is, and what it isn’t

Pollarding is the repeated cutting back of a tree to the same points, year after year or on a set cycle, so the tree puts on new growth from known nodes. Done properly, you get a recognisable pollard head at each cut point, and the tree can be managed at the same size for a hundred years or more. It’s a traditional technique, widely used on willow, lime, London plane, poplar and hornbeam.

It is not topping. Topping is a one-off hack at a convenient height, leaving stubs. Pollarding is a long-term management regime started when the tree is young or on an appropriate species, and maintained on a cycle to BS3998. If a tree has never been pollarded and is now fifty years old and thirty feet up, starting a pollard regime isn’t usually the right answer; a reduction is.

When a pollard is the right call

• You’ve got a willow, lime or plane already being managed on a pollard cycle, and it’s due its regular cut.
• A young tree has been planted where a full-size specimen won’t fit, and you want to start a pollard regime from the outset.
• A street or garden lime has been pollarded historically and you want to carry on the cycle rather than let it run to a full tree.
• A working willow boundary needs its regular two- or three-year cut-back.

How we do it

• Check the tree is suitable and already on a cycle. We won’t start a pollard regime on a mature tree that hasn’t been managed that way, because the cuts don’t behave the same.
• Cut back to the existing pollard heads. Each previous cut point is a knuckle. We cut just above the knuckle, not into it, and leave a clean face for the tree to heal.
• Right time of year for the species. Willows tolerate winter cuts. Limes and planes prefer late winter into early spring. We time the cycle to the tree.
• Nesting-bird check between March and August. Legal duty. If there’s an active nest, we wait or we work around it.
• Waste chipped on site, cleared on the truck. Pollard cuts produce a lot of arisings; we clear the lot.

What it costs

Priced per tree after a site visit. Size, access, whether the tree is already on a cycle and how long since the last cut all move the number. A willow on a three-year cycle is a quicker job than a lime that’s been left for eight and needs bringing back to its heads. We put a written quote in front of you within two working days.

What we won’t do

We don’t top trees. If someone’s told you to “top” an oak, a birch or a cherry, they’re not describing a pollard, they’re describing the job we won’t do. Topping is a near-guaranteed way to shorten a tree’s life and double the cost over ten years. On suitable species already on a cycle, we pollard. On everything else, we’ll reduce, thin or fell as the tree actually needs.

TPOs and conservation areas

If your tree is in a conservation area and over 75mm in diameter at 1.5 metres, you generally need to file a Section 211 notice before any cut, even a regular pollard. A TPO’d tree on a pollard cycle usually has the cycle described in the original consent, and we work to that. We file the paperwork with Hastings Borough Council or Rother District Council on your behalf and wait the clock out before we put a saw in.