We're well and truly into the leaves on the line season. Travelling north out of Basingstoke on the SWR mainline, somewhere before Winchfield I noticed that there had been some recent tree clearance on the cutting sides.
The strange thing was the method used. The undergrowth had been cleared, but the trees had only been lopped at high level. There is a stand of silver birch that's now just a series of poles, about 15 feet high each. I do a bit of conservation work, and this looks just like pollarding! Other species had been trimmed at high level just like tree surgeons do when reducing the canopy of street trees. What is going on here? I'm not sure that mature birches will survive this, except as woodpecker habitat! The other trees will just sprout out a load of new branches with just as many, if not more, leaves. The other question is how was it done? They'd have to have worked at height, requiring experienced tree workers to accomplish this safely.
The strange thing was the method used. The undergrowth had been cleared, but the trees had only been lopped at high level. There is a stand of silver birch that's now just a series of poles, about 15 feet high each. I do a bit of conservation work, and this looks just like pollarding! Other species had been trimmed at high level just like tree surgeons do when reducing the canopy of street trees. What is going on here? I'm not sure that mature birches will survive this, except as woodpecker habitat! The other trees will just sprout out a load of new branches with just as many, if not more, leaves. The other question is how was it done? They'd have to have worked at height, requiring experienced tree workers to accomplish this safely.