POLLARDING. I’ve looked up the word “pollard” on wikipedia a couple of times. Looking at pollarded trees made a big impression on me, especially some pollarded trees in a park in Brussels. The trees are small and gnarled, and not to my mind, particularly attractive. They are stunted and untreelike. Here is the wikipedia entry. And here is an image of some pollarded lindens or lime trees in Dagobertshausen, Germany. The wikipedia entry says that pollarding “is practised today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined height”. This suggests that that there are aesthetic reasons for pollarding; the uniform height is considered pleasing.
The wikipedia entry says that pollarding has been done since medieval times either “for fodder to feed livestock or for wood”. The entry continues: “As in coppicing, the tradition of pollarding is to encourage the tree to produce new growth on a regular basis to maintain a supply of new wood for various purposes, particularly for fuel”.
It may be that a European eye is accustomed to seeing pollarded trees and finds a beauty in them that I don’t appreciate.
When I think of Lausanne, Switzerland I think of the pollarded trees we saw there. It’s one of the main images that comes to mind: pollarded trees lining the misty gray lake.