Is this debate still going on?
Well I guess it must be necessary then.
You've probably all read Ekkas site by now, but its worth noting (again) that Pollarding is an old form of tree management and that it has created many of the most striking trees in the UK. I have seen 300-400 year old willow trees on the Somerset levels (up to 3 metres DBH) that would not be there had they not been pollarded. they are now fantastic, twisted, gnarley things that are a bitch to climb, as they snap (as all willows do, pollarded or not), and are often full of ivy. They are also often adjacent to roads (as they historically marked farm boundaries etc) and, therefore often below powerlines. SO. My question is this: do you take these trees out rather than re-pollard? If you do, you are a fool. These historic trees have been managed by humans for hundreds of years, provide habitat for native wildlife (foxes, badgers, bats, birds, invertebrates) that would not exist if they had not been pollarded, they are also often historically, geographically and culturally significant.
Each tree must be managed on its own merits, in some cases this means doing nothing..cest la vie.
This does NOT mean that I am pro-lopping, I'm not, it means that we are lucky enough to work in a profession which can turn all you've learnt on its head and make you THINK about what you are doing, sometimes every day.
For the record, I don't think that MD was advocating lopping at all. Thats not how I read it anyway.
DG
