Pruning lime trees (Tilia x europaea)

Lime trees are often maintained as ‘pollards’, which is one way of pruning lime trees. This is where a tree has grown too big for the location. It is then fairly heavily reduced by pruning back to bare stumps. The tree then produces new shoots from those stumps. Re-pollarding lime trees involves stripping them bare, removing all that regrowth. The change is dramatic if the tree is in leaf, as can be seen below. But they soon grow back, and should be maintained every 2-3 years.

As is often the case when we work with lime trees, we did all the pruning on this job with hand tools. This enables more accurate, cleaner pruning cuts than using chainsaws. So the tree ends up healthier and looking better. It is also a much quieter approach.

We also took care not to damage the phone lines running through the trees’ canopies.

The van in the photo now has a smart new aluminium body on the back.

For more about common lime trees, check out the RHS.

Did you like our work pruning lime trees? If you would like to discuss how we can help with your trees, hedges, or climbing plants, please get in touch.