Pollarding is worthwhile

[Twybill]

Anyone who manages a woodland that is not for strictly commercial use, may like to consider Pollarding trees as a way to improve both the structure and wildlife benefits of the wood. The practise certainly prevents the increasing numbers of deer from eating all the re-growth.

I find that most woods are far too heavily stocked with trees, yet rather than thin by coppicing and have a woodland full of sticks, try pollarding. You can then have the tree as well as the regrowth.

The trees with good branch structure and not too large a diameter can be started as a pollard. Oak ,Lime and Ash are ideal species for this. Leave the good standard trees well spaced (equal to the mature height at minimum) and pollard the others.

Each tree reacts differently and your woodland takes on character as each year goes by. Birds love to make nests at the pollard head where the whorl of branches makes a natural platform.

[wood troll]

Hi Twybill

Pollarding is still very common over here in France. It seems the French will pollard anything on woodland edges or field boundaries.... if it lives it's good for pollarding, if it doesn't the trunk can be felled for firewood. Field maple can also be pollarded successfully.

I re-pollarded two of our oaks last year. They are about 70cm in the trunk and well over a meter at the 'head'. It is not a job for the faint hearted standing 2 to 3 meters up and felling 30cm upright branches! I would guess they will provide about 2 cords of wood when I get round to making them into logs. I have also made a sink stand for a client from some of it.

In the next couple of weeks I am pollarding and thinning out a row of about 25 oak trees for a friend. We are going halves on the wood!

wood troll

[agcook]

Following Phillip Marshalls excellent article, I see that birch are a bit problematic. Does anyone have experience of pollarding rowan. We have a small wood in Aberangell and have removed youngish conifers from about 5 acres and have another 5 acres of mixed oak, rowan, and birch. In the cleared areas we have left hundreds of self seeded rowan and birch with very few oak. Most of them are tall and thin and we would like to pollard most of them (well above sheep height. Earlier attempts with rowan ended in tree rotting back.

[Twybill]

Hi agcook,

Glad you liked the article, I am afraid I must confess to being the author. It was written to try and enthuse others about pollarding by relating my experiences. Like you, I have pollarded a number of rowan and not been happy with the result. Although they have all produced new shoots, they seem to lack vigour and all have numerous depressions on the re-growth which looks like canker. Also, the number of new shoots is quite low and (like beech) they seem to originate mainly from the rim of the cut main stem which makes them vulnerable to drying out.

I have reverted to coppicing rowan and get much better results; perhaps they respond like hazel does by sending out new shoots from the root area and this makes for stronger growth. However, there are old pollard rowans about. so have a go and see how it works, you can always coppice later on if you are not happy.

Birch will pollard well but try on stems at no more than 50mm diameter at the height you are cutting at. Birch bark will last forever but can disguise a stem that is totally rotten inside, so if you start small the re-growth has enough vigour to grow over the pollard head before rot starts. I have made the mistake of taking a 75mm diameter side branch off an old birch and rot ran straight through the main stem, making the tree unstable. Older birches are best left alone.

Look after your remaining oaks, they will give the wood its character and longevity and are one of the best species for pollarding. I would encourage more oaks to self seed by clearing an area and keeping sheep out. Oak is a pioneer species and Jays will only plant acorns in clear areas. Don't worry about grass growth as oak seedlings will grow through this. Sheep can be a big problem as they will eat all new seedlings and coppice stems. If a perimeter fence is not feasible, a temporary fence round each small coupe is good until seedlings or coppice have got away.

Birch, rowan and oak are all light demanding, so try and space them out. Brushwood from coppice can be piled round cut stems to keep sheep off.

Best thing is to just 'have a go' and see what works for you. Have fun.