Saw this outside my window today and it's so sad to see. The trees were beautiful and now they just look ugly. Why is this necessary, and in June of all times? Does the council just hate trees?? The leaves weren't falling, branches haven't been at risk of falling… I don't get it, and it's quite sad.

I hope they won't trim the tree outside my bedroom window – it's beautiful to wake up and see it every morning.

Anyone have any idea why this is done? Is this something worth complaining about to councillors / my local MP?

by legalcharmander

49 comments

  1. This looks like pollarding. I think by doing this it ensures the trees stay healthy and don’t grow out of control

  2. It’s called Pollarding, they do it to keep the trees to a managed size so they don’t grow too big.

  3. It’s called pollarding, it keeps the tree from getting too tall or too bushy and ultimately keeps the tree alive longer.

  4. It looks like crown reduction to me, it’s good for the tree and it allows for light to get to areas around the tree.

  5. I agree its unsightly, it’s called Pollarding, here’s what google told me:

    >Pollarding is a form of tree management where the upper branches are pruned back to the main trunk, encouraging vigorous regrowth from the remaining trunk. This practice, similar to coppicing, helps control tree height and can lead to increased foliage and branch growth. Pollarding is often done to prevent trees from outgrowing available space, especially in urban environments, and can also create habitats for wildlife. 

    Apparently its best done in the dormant season rather than June but i guess the council probably just have a small team that does it year round.

  7. A tree’s roots grow to support the trunk and branches, so trimming the branches stops the roots getting too big and interfering with nearby structures.

    It will all grow back.

  8. It’s called [pollarding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding), and is done to prevent the tree developing a massive canopy in circumstances that would be inappropriate. If you look at the plane trees in London parks, which are generally **not** pollarded, they are absolutely massive. So the plane trees in our streets and smaller spaces are treated like this to maintain them at a size that is appropriate for the space that they are in.

    [This](https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/london-plane/) explains why plane trees are so commonly planted in London.

  9. That’s just pollarding. Prevents the tree spreading and damaging windows/wires and also makes it live longer.

    It’s expensive though, and councils hate that. That’s why few new trees of that size ever get planted, no-one wants to pay for the maintenance. New planting is always small low maintenance things like birch and rowan.

  10. It’s pollarding. Quite common by councils but at least mine tries to do it outside the summer season to avoid disrupting bird nesting. Could be worth an enquiry to yours as to why it was necessary now.

  11. I don’t think enough people wrote the name of this, can someone else comment the same thing so i can understand?

  14. As everyone else has already stated, this is necessary, it’s for the health of the tree.

  17. I love the outrage for doing something that OP actually wants the council to do. Keep the tree alive and healthy.

    People get outraged with such little knowledge and information nowadays. Not even an attempt to discover what it is thats been done to the tree.

  18. It always cheers me up to see someone giving a righteous, indignant and wholly incorrect opinion on something they know nothing about only to get totally pwned by the internet.

  19. I have to do this to the trees in my front garden every 2 years to keep them under control and healthy. Tree will be fine.

  21. I saw them doing this exact same thing at Disneyland Paris back in February. Trees in front of one of the main hotels. As other said, there seems to be a reason for it

  22. Thanks for the info everyone! I didn’t know about pollarding so this has been an interesting read. It’s a shame it looks so ugly for now, but hopefully the tree bounces back quickly so we can enjoy the full leaves again 🙂

  25. The plane trees outside our window were pollarded a year or two ago. Looked ugly in winter; now they’re bursting with leaves.

  27. imagine being this outraged about something that helps the tree. op, go back to school.

  28. Let’s be honest, Pollarding is used to save money. It minimises the number of times and therefore costs related to maintaining trees. It likely also helps reduce liability cases as it reduces the likelihood of branches/trees falling and injuring people or damaging property that the council could be liable for.

  29. If the council left that tree alone it would eventually pull up the bricks or worse become a hazard by potentially leaning into your building

    source: me, happened to our house

  30. The council employs a Bristolian giant who is a fan of Bonsai. Her name is Vicky Pollard.

  33. It’s called pollarding, named after actress Su Pollard of Hi-De-Hi fame, who pioneered the technique back in 450 AD.

  34. They did this to a tree outside our window a year or two ago and we were gutted, not realising it would grow back – this year it’s giving us full bush. It won’t look like that forever!

  35. Those trees are really close to houses and could cause subsidence if the roots draw too much water. It is the leaves that need the water so pollarding reduces the trees thirst. It will recover quickly but will not outgrow its surroundings. Believe me, the council do not hate trees. It takes a lot of money to maintain pollarding. Seems to me they have done a good job.

  38. Honestly, I wished they cut the trees outside my house sooner. The amount of light I get now compared to when they were fully grown is crazy.

    You can actually see the light from the street lights, don’t push on wires less bugs and bird shit on cars dont have to duck walking down the road, and when autumn comes, I’ll actually be able to see the road rather than have the whole thing completely covered by wet slippery leaves.

  39. It’s to manage water uptake to reduce subsidence risk.

  40. This is really good for the tree, we did it on ours last year and some nosiy bugger complained to the council, it was the councils tree surgeon that did the work when we asked him about how to keep them healthy.

  41. It’s necessary to allow trees to coexist with the urban landscape.

    No, councils don’t despise trees, although, in OPs defence, I had noticed that this year there has been a lot more pollarding across London…

  42. We hate trees in this country. Give me some pasture or concrete any day, and we are cool

  43. This is called pollarding. The tree will grow back again.

  44. Whilst we’re on subject of trees, why are all the street tree tarmaced right all to the trunk? They used to have at least a small bit of space / earth around them

  45. When I did tree work we’d have angry residents come out on the daily yelling at us for “cutting their tree down” lol. It’s just pollarding, it’s fine and common practice in urban areas.

  48. Hey this is pollarding. Please refer to other comments for more information on the subject

  49. Pollarding, you have no idea about trees.
    Best time of year for it, no.
    They will come back lovely
    Don’t worry

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