# Severely pruning trees **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503 "2008-05-16T01:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/21 "2008-05-16T18:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] 25% pruning is way less than the pollarding I’ve seen around here. [/QUOTE] Actually, many serious gardeners only use the term pollard for removal of branches “the diameter of a fishing rod”. If you mention the kind of “Crape Murder” discussed here, gardeners freak. If you go to gardenweb, or many other garden forums and search “crape murder” you can see it first hand. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/22 "2008-05-16T18:38:15Z")
So, then, the trees near here that look [like this](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5509/2182/1600/crepemurder.jpg) actually are being incorrectly done? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/23 "2008-05-16T18:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] So, then, the trees near here that look [like this](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5509/2182/1600/crepemurder.jpg) actually are being incorrectly done? [/QUOTE] hehe. _According to those more knowledgeable than myself_, the only reason to cut a tree back like that is as a prelude to removal of the trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/24 "2008-05-16T19:02:08Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] By wrong, I mean mismatching the intended purpose. Planting [one of these poplars](http://courses.washington.edu/z490/gmo/toby.html) or an [Italian cypress](http://mgonline.com/italiancypress01.jpg) as a shade tree and then pollarding it is wrong. [quote] “Wrong” in what way? Morally? Who is being harmed? I don’t get your frame of reference. [quote] Especially when there [are so many other choices](http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=2672&Type=2) [PDF link] Matter of taste. Poplars have the nice flowers mentioned above. Maples are pretty in the fall. Oaks provide the most shade, but also attract squirrels, which can make pests of themselves. > [@](#): > > And apparently the Tulip Poplar **Spoke-** mentioned is actually [a member of the magnolia family](http://www.shgresources.com/ky/symbols/tree/). It would seem that true poplars can be pruned [up to 25%](http://www.cropinfo.net/AnnualReports/2003/popprune2003.htm) without damage to the tree. 25% pruning is way less than the pollarding I’ve seen around here. > > Or are you referring to some other kind of poplar? I’m not finding any links that recommend pollarding true poplars. But my google-fu is known to be poor. Tulip poplars are not “true poplars.” I have seen my dad cut them back to head-high stumps, with no long-term ill effects. They grow very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/25 "2008-05-16T19:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] By wrong, I mean mismatching the intended purpose. Planting [one of these poplars](http://courses.washington.edu/z490/gmo/toby.html) or an [Italian cypress](http://mgonline.com/italiancypress01.jpg) as a shade tree and then pollarding it is wrong. [quote] Those are not tulip poplars. That’s where your confusion lies. A mature tulip poplar can make a nice shade tree. [quote] Especially when there [are so many other choices](http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=2672&Type=2) [PDF link] Matter of taste. Tulip poplars have the nice flowers mentioned above. Maples are pretty in the fall. Oaks provide the most shade, but also attract squirrels, which can make pests of themselves. > [@](#): > > And apparently the Tulip Poplar **Spoke-** mentioned is actually [a member of the magnolia family](http://www.shgresources.com/ky/symbols/tree/). It would seem that true poplars can be pruned [up to 25%](http://www.cropinfo.net/AnnualReports/2003/popprune2003.htm) without damage to the tree. 25% pruning is way less than the pollarding I’ve seen around here. > > Or are you referring to some other kind of poplar? I’m not finding any links that recommend pollarding true poplars. But my google-fu is known to be poor. Tulip poplars are not “true poplars.” I have seen my dad cut tulip poplars back to head-high stumps, with no long-term ill effects. They grow very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/26 "2008-05-16T19:23:47Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] By wrong, I mean mismatching the intended purpose. Planting [one of these poplars](http://courses.washington.edu/z490/gmo/toby.html) or an [Italian cypress](http://mgonline.com/italiancypress01.jpg) as a shade tree and then pollarding it is wrong. [/quote] You are envisioning the wrong tree. Those are not tulip poplars. A mature tulip poplar can make a nice shade tree. [See](http://smithwholesale.com/images/tulippoplar.jpg)? [quote] Especially when there [are so many other choices](http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=2672&Type=2) [PDF link] Matter of taste. Tulip poplars have the nice flowers mentioned above. Maples are pretty in the fall. Oaks provide the most shade, but also attract squirrels, which can make pests of themselves. > [@](#): > > And apparently the Tulip Poplar **Spoke-** mentioned is actually [a member of the magnolia family](http://www.shgresources.com/ky/symbols/tree/). It would seem that true poplars can be pruned [up to 25%](http://www.cropinfo.net/AnnualReports/2003/popprune2003.htm) without damage to the tree. 25% pruning is way less than the pollarding I’ve seen around here. > > Or are you referring to some other kind of poplar? I’m not finding any links that recommend pollarding true poplars. But my google-fu is known to be poor. Tulip poplars are not “true poplars.” I have seen my dad cut tulip poplars back to head-high stumps, with no long-term ill effects. They grow very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/27 "2008-05-16T19:26:15Z")
Exactly\*\* spoke-\*\* , you just need to trim your posts ruthlessly, then they grow back ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/28 "2008-05-16T20:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Pullet = female chicken who has not started laying eggs yet (believe me, I’m sure of that one 😉 ) Capon = castrated male. (what the hell am I telling you this for, **Mangetout**? You know this already :smack: ) [/QUOTE] You know, I must have had a brain fart moment in which I forgot how to read usernames. I can’t explain this oversight. I only read the post content, then responded to it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/29 "2008-05-16T20:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=NaturalBlondChap] Exactly\*\* spoke-\*\* , you just need to trim your posts ruthlessly, then they grow back [/QUOTE] 😃 My posts sprout like poplars. But they’re not nearly as pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/30 "2008-05-16T22:00:01Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] ETA: What’s with the multiple use of the word Pollard? I’ve been told it also refers to a female chicken that is developing male characteristics, which apparently is a tangent on the reference to a Pollard being an animal that has lost its horns. Weird [/QUOTE] > **[Pollarding | Origin and usage of term](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding#Origin_and_usage_of_term)** > > "Poll" was originally a name for the top of the head (hence poll tax and the like), and "to poll" was a verb meaning 'to crop the hair'. This use was extended to similar treatment of the branches of trees and the horns of animals. A pollard simply meant someone or something that had been polled (similar to the formation of "drunkard" and "sluggard"); for example, a hornless ox or polled livestock. Later, the noun "pollard" came to be used as a verb: "pollarding". Pollarding has now largely replac... > [@](#): > > To poll was originally a verb meaning to crop the hair, this being extended to similar treatment of the branches of trees and the horns of animals. A pollard simply meant someone or something that had been polled (similarly to the formation of “drunkard” and “sluggard”). For example, a hornless ox would be referred to as a pollard. Later the noun pollard became used as its own verb: “pollarding” from a neologism developed from the noun as happens frequently in speech. “Pollarding” has now largely replaced “polling” as the verb in the forestry sense. Pollard can also be used as an adjective: “pollard tree”. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503/31 "2008-05-16T22:53:54Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] 😃 My posts sprout like poplars. But they’re not nearly as pretty. [/QUOTE] I swear there were 3 blank posts in a row prior to my post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severely-pruning-trees/449503.md?page=1)