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Historic Ash trees along Radovick Street in Korumburra to undergo pollarding pruning for health and preservation

Radovick Street in Korumburra will see its historic London Plane and Desert Ash trees undergo pollarding for health and preservation, based on an arborist's recommendations.

By news@gippsland - 10th August 2023 - Back to News

Trees along Radovick Street in Korumburra will soon have a new look, after they are pruned using a process called 'pollarding' next week. The London Plane and Desert Ash trees have historical significance as they are representative of the trees planted as part of the town's original streetscape, but have since been impacted by asymmetrical crown growth caused by selective pruning to accommodate powerlines.

An independent arborist assessed seventeen Radovick Street trees, evaluating health, structure, and risk, resulting in accepted recommendations

Tree assessment report

To determine the best treatment, seventeen trees along Radovick Street were assessed by an independent arborist. The arborist determined the health, structural condition and risk of each tree and provided a number of recommendations, which have all been accepted. The report states that twelve trees have high retention value and three have moderate retention value. It also advised that two should be removed due to ongoing safety concerns, which has since occurred.

The recommended treatment for the fifteen remaining trees is pollarding, which is an extreme pruning technique that will cut the tree limbs back substantially to stimulate regrowth. The trees will be pruned back to these same points annually, limiting asymmetrical growth, and helping to retain the health of the trees for another 50 years.

Kerryn Ellis, CEO South Gippsland Shire Council said, "The pollarding technique appears quite drastic and may take people a while to get used to. However, this type of pruning is used all over the world to help retain and protect trees that have historic value, but are located in areas that limit their natural growth. We expect that by implementing the recommendations in the report these trees will remain strong and healthy for many years to come."

Pictures from South Gippsland Shire Council website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com