I saw a group of trees that have been topped at the Garden, but I thought that topping trees was bad for them. — Angela Groskopf, Park Ridge You may be referring to the group of sycamore trees planted ...

Q: I've got two trees in my yard that were pruned years ago – before I bought – by someone who had no idea what they were doing. The result is large branches that look like "clubs." All new growth ...

Pollarding is a type of severe pruning that results in a dense growth of branches at the pruning site instead of its naturally shaped crown. Last fall, I decided to pollard a catalpa tree to re-create ...

Q. We have nine mulberry trees that were pollarded in the past. Because pollarding causes many long branched to develop, I am wondering what the best pruning practice would be for maintaining the ...

Last fall, I blogged about a catalpa sapling I pruned. The results of that pruning have been evolving through the summer. The tree is a wildling that just happened to sprout from seed along the west ...

Have you ever heard of pollarding? It’s a specialty tree pruning technique that is commonly used in England. It produces some interesting forms and colors for your garden. And it can be easy! Even if ...

A word you rarely hear in a gardening context is "fetish". I've no idea why, as the very practice of gardening hinges on what most people will admit is obsession. Lately I have found myself mesmerised ...

You either like the look of a tree that has been pollarded, or you do not. It’s not a natural look. This time of year, a pollarded tree presents a trunk capped by a clubbed head, or a trunk with short ...