During autumn of last year, I visited a site somewhat close to home that was, by-and-large, an old park (that was, at one stage, a private estate). Now, many tracts of the landscape have regenerated, or were simply always retained as woodland, and amongst both landscapes there are plenty of old hornbeam pollards that, in places, are still under active management. The below hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is no exception, and I am wondering whether the tree has had halo pruning undertaken around it, as it has an uncharacteristically high level of space when compared to the space other trees nearby have.
Anyway, I’m sharing this picture as I really like it. The tree has cracking form, and it displays very successfully the rather alluring character of pollarded trees.
Arboriculture 