ONE way around growing a tree in a tight space is to 'pollard' it and while not every tree can be pollarded there are a good selection that can be, writes TOM ATTWOOD. Some street trees in our towns and cities are treated this way, but it’s far more widespread as a technique across Europe.

Once your chosen plant has been in the ground for two or three years and is reasonably mature you can begin pollarding it. You would normally do this in late winter, early spring with the exception of Mulberry (Morus) trees or acers which would need to be done earlier in midwinter when they are fully dormant to avoid them bleeding too much from their rising sap in early spring. With pollarding you are leaving a permanent framework that over time thickens and becomes woody. Around this woody frame each year the fresh growth is produced and you repeat the process of cutting this back at the appropriate time to generate more. It may seem a brutal practice but remarkably there are a selection of trees and shrubs that will tolerate this treatment that would otherwise grow into very sizeable plants that many of us would not have room for.

The other advantage is that the new crop of growth produced each cycle is fresh, vibrant and often the leaves will become increasingly larger as the plant ages. Many of these trees tend to grow very fast, which is all well and good, but that rapid growth is brittle and in strong summer winds and gales they can easily succumb to major damage. I’m speaking from bitter experience here. Pollarding keeps a lid on this growth and increases their natural ‘stockiness’ which massively reduces the risk of damage.

I’ve a selection of plants in the garden that I pollard, including Paulownia tomentosa, eucalyptus, cotinus and catalpa. The catalpa is my favourite as the leaves of catalpa bignonioides Aurea glow with a golden lustre contrasting with the dark leaved form C. erubescens Purpurea.

If you like to cut and arrange your own flowers, then pollarding eucalyptus and cotinus will provide masses of fresh foliage you can use. Look up trees you can pollard and maybe try one in your own garden?

If you’d be interested to see some of these plants, including the immense proportions you can soon achieve by pollarding a Paulownia tomentosa for the ultimate 'jungle effect' up close and personal, with the opportunity to throw your garden queries at me in person, this coming Sunday (September 15) from 10am until 5pm I will be leading tours around our garden on our special open day which will include looking at many of the plants I discuss every week in The Westmorland Gazette.

For details see our website at www.abiandtom.co.uk.