Forum Topic

Hounslow - tree pruning

I took a walk around Bedford Park yesterday morning and to my horror came across the tree pruning gang butchering the horse chestnut trees in Priory Avenue.  These trees are only just coming into full leaf and their flowers about to come out.  The trees were being pollarded in such a way as to leave them almost leafless.  This sort of work should be done in the autumn.The problem here lies in the fact that who are well trained in climbing trees and cutting them out have not a clue in pruning techniques which allow these trees to grow and flourish as they should.The worst of it, as seen in Priory Gardens, is that the trees make valiant effort to put on growth and most of that is not on the butchered branches but up the main stem of the tree thereby blocking more light from the houses and looking hideous into the bargain.This arises every 5 years or so and residents are left with trees growing leaf to such an extent that the houses are being blocked from light and sunshine and no matter how many times we have protested at the way these trees are being pruned the Council takes absolutely no notice.It is very noticeable this year that we have far fewer birds about and to deprive them of the insects and food source vital to their survival at breeding time is a disgrace.  These trees are their habitat which enhances ours.  The swifts are just arriving back from South Africa and at this rate there will be very little food for them.  Much is made of planting trees and being ecological to check climate change and save the planet and its fauna and flora.I cannot be the only one so angry at this deliberate desecration but what can be done?This morning they are at it again and more streets have notices up for tree cutting in the coming days.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1994d14 Comments

Don't know about horse chestnuts but Ealing Council (in many ways very good) sure have ruined the large maple outside our house – in exactly the way Elizabeth describes.Three years after amateur pollarding (butchery) the leaves are now so thick that it's like a total eclipse of the sun below..Most successful urban trees round our way are now silver birches..

Stuart Kerr ● 1994d

This spring and summer pruning of street trees seems to be common across councils. If you were to apply for permission to carry out such work as an individual you would be told that it could only take place when the trees were dormant - in other words in autumn and winter. However the councils seem to be allowed to ignore their own regulations, and I have concluded that the primary driver is price. With all those individuals denied permission to prune and lop during spring and summer I'm guessing that the tree maintenance companies are keen to take on the work of cutting back street trees.  Price would also account for the prevalence of the sort of brutal cutting back and pollarding that we have become used to. It's horrible and does indeed result in dense and unattractive regrowth thereby requiring the cycle to continue.

Bruce Hammal ● 1994d

Are there any in-house arboriculturists nowadays or is that another job that has been outsourced?A lot of birds return to their last year's nests.  I have a photo of a lime or plane which has been pollarded all except for one branch which has a nest.  Has the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 been repealed?

Philippa Bond ● 1994d

Philippa - I don't know the answer to your opening question. However I can't think that there wouldn't be at least one qualified person employed by every local authority to deal with this. The question is how strictly they adhere to the regulations. Some years back I had a discussion with an arboricuturist for LBHF about the suitability of some newly-planted street trees. I have always remembered his response when I pointed out the official criteria for choosing what should go where - a document to which LBHF were a signatory. I quote:  "well if we stuck to the rules we wouldn't be able to plant most of the trees we currently do".It's a viewpoint, but I'm not sure how defensible it is. I suspect the same ethos applies to their attitude to best practice for the maintenance of the trees once they are there!

Bruce Hammal ● 1994d

If anyone expects Hounslow to take any of this seriously then they are really are barking up the wrong tree! Last year we had a resident in the adjacent borough taking it upon themselves to have work on a tree (cracked Willow)  sited on the Hounslow bankside of the River Crane which runs along the side of a small park - this in the middle of June! Reported to Hounslow's parks dept. they couldn't have been less bothered if they tried. Enforcement action non existent - simply did not want to know - even when I suggested that they could report this as criminal damage to the police, absolutely infuriating and insulting.

Vanessa Smith ● 1994d

“ Before you tackle a pruning job on a horse chestnut, consider timing. There are good times and bad times to prune this particular tree. A general rule of thumb is to avoid pruning horse chestnut trees in early spring to mid-summer and late summer to mid-winter. Better times to prune this specimen are from mid-winter to early spring or mid-spring to mid-summer”.Read more at Gardening Know How: Horse Chestnut Pruning: Should You Cut Back Horse Chestnut Branches https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/horse-chestnut/horse-chestnut-pruning.htm

Russell Pearson ● 1994d

Have you brought this to the attention of your local ward councillors ?

Richard Greenhough ● 1994d

When the Hounslow Cabinet heeds the advice of local ward councillors then maybe that would be a valid path. As it stands, they ignore our local representation.In our experience, we noticed all the trees around us being pruned on a regular basis. Our local ward councillor, one John Todd, told us that years ago the pine tree outside the shop was pruned incorrectly. Given its placement under the plane tree and near the High Road it has always suffered. Not to be thwarted, I called attention to it by contacting Hounslow Highways. In turn the Hounslow's Head Arborist came out and did some pretty severe pruning. I spoke with him about the fate of the tree. He concurred with Cllr Todd and said there was very little that could be done at this point to correct the prior mistake. The tree has grown irregularly and no amount of corrective surgery would repair that. What's left is a lopsided, ill-proportioned lump of needles.

David Lesniak ● 1993d

So who are these people who are doing the pruning?I have long thought that too often everything nowadays is being done to suit tick boxes on an excel or similar sheet with no consideration whatsoever to the actual trees or shrubs being attacked.  Unfortunately money comes first and despite the fact that many shrubs should not be pruned at the same time they just all get a quick shave with some piece of electrical equipment to suit a programme by a contractor who either has no idea what they are cutting - or - doesn't care. Some shrubs flower on last year's growth and some on this just to mention one problem with this tick box method.Instead of looking at the price first and choosing the cheapest it would be a good idea to check that all the companies invited are actually knowledgeable and qualified in what they are doing. We've had weedkilling along a wild life haven path that didn't belong to a Council and weeding out of expensive plants from a planter.  We've also had strange street trees planted with prickly branches reaching right across the pavement.  Crazy or what?  Everybody seems to need to be monitored closely.

Philippa Bond ● 1993d

The councils tend to use the same companies you see working around the area, so I suppose they have qualified people on their staff. However as I have already observed there will be a different price for local authorities compared with private individuals, and the street trees are done according to a timetable. I know for a fact that some of the pruning these companies will carry out on a tree when working for the council, would be refused if permission was requested by a householder.

Bruce Hammal ● 1993d

It wasn’t the usual crowd as I know them and one individual is a noisy character so is distinctive.  This lot were all ‘English’ accents - 2 chatting in the street and one up the tree.  Their excuse was that the householder complained that it was overhanging and requested it.  As I know the elderly couple, this is not what they would expect as they are very ecology conscious.  They will be even more upset when, in a few months time, the tree has eliminated all light from their windows with its massive spurt of leafy growth from pavement level upwards.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1993d

I’m still stunned by the sentence containing  both Ealing Council and a good job. Not the Ealing Council I know and loathe

Maggie Dodge ● 1993d

Dear “Stunned of Chiswick”..May your dizzy spell subsidemay your fury wanemay all your old scores be settledmay your weeds shrivel and your flowers bloommay your gentle claws retractmay the birds sing out and again be heard from your rooftopmay your avocados all be ripemay Ealing Council suddenly attend to your every needand may the sunshine pop out from behind the clouds and fill your world with joy

Stuart Kerr ● 1993d

Is every request to Hounslow Highways actioned whether or not it is absolutely necessary right now/the right time of year just because it has been requested?  Tick-box style?  Was it impossible to do this work earlier - as outdoor work I would have thought that it was safer than a lot of the building work allowed. Do the people requesting/commenting on unpollarded/pruned trees realise that it may be a problem doing the work now?  (I saw one on fixmystreet a little earlier today.)

Philippa Bond ● 1993d