Gardening Plants & Flowers Trees

Pollarding: What It Means & How to Do It

Pollarding keeps trees compact so they won't grow into power lines

Pollarded trees in Cannes, France.

Daniela White Images/Getty Images

Pollarding trees means cutting them back nearly to the trunk, to produce a dense mass of branches. It is sometimes done today for aesthetic purposes—the resulting "lollipop trees" may be appealing to those who crave horticultural oddities. But pollarded trees aren't for everyone as they are stark-looking when they do not have leaves. Depending on the size of the tree, pollarding may be costly when it services of an arborist.

Why Is Pollarding Practiced? 

There are two main reasons for pollarding trees. Trees on residential properties are pollarded because they have outgrown their allocated space, cast too much shade, or interfere with power and utility lines. Often, the alternative would be to remove the tree.

Pollarding is also a common method to keep trees on city streets or in parks more compact, especially when branches are encroaching on power and utility lines.

In the past, pollarding was practiced as a different way of harvesting timber. Instead of felling a tree and having merely one-time use of its wood, pollarding provided animal fodder and firewood over many years.

What Kinds of Trees Is Pollarding Suitable for?

Only certain types of trees are suited to pollarding, and with clear limitations.

Trees that are suitable for pollarding while still young include:

  • London plane tree (which is particularly suitable and commonly pollarded)
  • Mulberry
  • Oak
  • Tulip tree
  • Common lime
  • Elder
  • Catalpa
  • Ash
  • Elm
  • Gum
  • Redbud

Trees with weaker wood as well as softwood trees are not suitable for pollarding:

  • Poplar
  • Willow
  • White pines and other conifers

Large hardwood trees such as oaks or beeches that have not been pollarded for many years should not be pollarded. They have very heavy branches which, if pollarded, may break away in windy weather and create a hazard.

When to Pollard Trees

For trees that do need pollarding, the best time to pollard them is usually late winter or early spring, similar to the timing of pruning.

Pollarding begins on young trees, and the process is repeated every year or two throughout the life of the tree (meaning that, if you decide that this is something that you would like to subject your trees to, be prepared to undertake significant landscape maintenance).

 When to Consider Pollarding

Unless you like the pollarded look of a tree (which many people don't), the reasons why you should pollard a tree are merely practical. Is the tree outgrowing its allocated space in a way that cannot be managed by pruning? If it is casting too much shade, pruning often solves the problem. However, if the tree is interfering with power and other utility lines, pollarding is often the lesser of the two evils because the only alternative would be to cut the tree down.

How to Pollard a Tree 

Pollarding a young tree is done in six steps:

  1. Select three or five strong branches that you want to leave in place to form a framework.
  2. Remove all of the other branches.
  3. Cut the framework branches back to the desired length.
  4. Wait for new growth to sprout from the pollarded branches.
  5. The following year, cut the branches just above the previous pollarding cuts.
  6. If the foliage cover is sparse because there is not a lot of new twiggy growth, leave some branches intact and cut a side branch instead.

Topping vs. Pollarding

Pollarding and topping are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Pollarding is done with some design in mind, topping is done out of expediency. More thought and planning goes into pollarding, which is considered an art form, much like topiary.

Topping means cutting older trees down almost to the top of the trunk. Topping trees is sometimes used as a less expensive alternative to their full removal, which is quite costly in the case of large old trees. It is done not with an eye to what is best for the tree, but because the homeowner is in a pinch. Topping is not good for trees and should not be done if you care about a tree at all. Topping a tree can kill it, though not all trees that have been topped die a quick death. Some live on for many years.

Once you've had a tree topped, you are stuck with the result. Pollarding is an ongoing operation done to maintain a shape; topping is usually done just once.

Canopy Reduction

A third arboricultural term you will hear that's related to pollarding and topping is canopy reduction. It is a pruning technique that cuts down the length of a branch or reduces the number of branches. This is the best practice for trimming a tree that has outgrown its space and should therefore be your first choice for an intervention before you consider topping.

A situation that may call for canopy reduction is when one or more branches on a tree threaten to fall on utility wires or hang out over a road, posing a safety hazard for automobile drivers.

FAQ
  • Is pollarding a tree healthy?

    In theory, a pollarded tree lives longer than a non-pollarded tree because over its lifetime, it will likely have fewer broken branches. But that does make a pollarded tree healthy. Annual pollarding creates numerous injuries that invite pests and diseases and are potentially more destructive than broken branches. So in a nutshell, pollarding a tree is not a healthy practice.

  • What trees are best for pollarding?

    Hardwood trees that are still young are the best candidates for pollarding. That also makes it a bit tricky because when a tree is still young, you don't necessarily think about the time when it will outgrow its space and might need pollarding to keep its branches out of the power lines along your property.

  • What are the disadvantages of pollarding?

    The unnatural look of a pollarded tree is probably the most significant advantage. Also, a turn-off for gardeners is that once you start pollarding a tree, it will have to become a yearly exercise, which turns a landscape tree with no or little maintenance into a labor-intensive one.

  • What is the difference between coppicing and pollarding?

    Coppicing is cutting a tree or shrubs at the ground level, which prompts new shoots to grow from the base. So while pollarding is pruning at the top of the tree, coppicing is pruning at the base of the plant.

  • What is the point of pollarding?

    Nowadays pollarding is primarily done either for space reasons to keep the growth of a tree under control, or to keep the tree canopy out of power and other utility lines. Tree branches over power lines break in strong wind, ice, and know, bringing power lines down and causing major disruption.

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  1. Pollarding. Royal Horticultural Society,