Pruning, Pollarding or Removal? Choosing the Right Tree Work

When a tree has outgrown its space, there are usually three options: prune it, pollard it or take it down. Each suits a different tree and a different problem, and a good tree surgeon will explain which one makes sense before quoting.

Pruning: smaller, but still natural

Most garden trees can be brought back under control with careful pruning. The main techniques are:

• Crown reduction: reduces the height and spread of the whole canopy by cutting back to healthy growth points
• Crown lifting: removes the lowest branches to clear lawns, driveways and paths
• Crown thinning: removes a proportion of inner branches to let more light through
• Deadwooding: removes dead and dying branches before they fall

Well-judged crown reduction leaves the tree smaller but still rounded and natural in shape, rather than topped and unsightly.

Pollarding: a long-term cycle

Pollarding cuts a tree back hard to a framework of short branches, then removes the new shoots from the same points on a regular cycle. It suits willows, limes and planes, and garden pollards are commonly re-cut every one to three years. Specialists in tree pollarding can maintain existing pollards, start new ones on young trees and gradually restore old pollards that have been left for years. Converting a large mature tree that has never been pollarded is not usually recommended.

Removal: when a tree has to come down

Removal is the right answer for a dead, dangerous or badly placed tree. Trees close to buildings are dismantled in sections and lowered on ropes, and the stump can be ground out below ground so the area can be used again.

Check the rules first

Tree Preservation Orders cover pruning and pollarding as well as felling, and trees in conservation areas normally need six weeks' notice. This matters most in historic towns, so a tree surgeon in Coggeshall, for example, will check the council's records before any work is booked.

Questions to ask a tree surgeon

• Are your team NPTC-qualified and insured?
• Does the tree have a TPO or sit in a conservation area?
• Will the branches be chipped and taken away?
• Is stump grinding included in the price?

For more on landscaping and garden services, see our landscaping services category.