Pollarding gives Sidmouth trees new lease of life

TWO large horse chestnuts and a sycamore tree in Sidmouth parish church’s grounds, have been pollarded and pruned this week by tree surgeons.

Work started on Monday and continued this week.

A tree officer at East Devon District Council explained the two most easterly trees – the sycamore and one horse chestnut – had historically been managed as pollards and re-growth needed to be removed, back to the pollard knuckle.

He said: “This is a routine form of tree management. Left unmanaged, the pollard re-growth will be come increasingly unstable, possibly leading to branch failure.”

A fungus has been seen growing at one metre and 2.5 metres on the sycamore, which causes a white rot, turning the wood soft.

The horse chestnut has a cavity formation at historic pruning points.

The larger, open growing horse chestnut further to the west, had its crown lightly reduced in volume.

“The tree has shed two branches and the re-pollarding of the two immediately adjacent trees will increase the chance of further branch failure,” said the officer.

“The crown reduction will reduce the chance of further branch failure to a reasonably acceptable level.”