Alnus : telephone line problem: Pollard?Coppice?

Beeswax

Hello,

I have recently moved house and have a Cut Leaf Alder tree which has the neighbours telephone line passing through to top most branches. I've since snipped away the most offending branches, but I need a more drastic solution for the long term. I'd rather not have my tree rub through the neighbours telephone line. The trunk is about 5" diameter and forks into three branches about 6 ½' up and these reach a height above the telephone line - maybe 20'. Ideally I'd pollard the tree right through the main trunk about 6' up, to match a nearby cherry pollarded at this height. But I think that would be too drastic for the tree? Or would coppicing the tree at ground level be better or pollarding the three branches be a better option? The latter option is a bit high and too close to the wire for comfort I believe. Can an alder even be treated like this?

Thanks for any advice,

Beeswax

And which particular time of year be best for any of the above?

 

Thanks,

Logan

It's best to do it in winter when dormant but it has to be a smaller tree.If it's that tall it's best to get a professional to do it

nutcutlet

Everyone has their own skill Logan, we always do our own tree surgery

I think you can cut it where you like and it will grow again, but I don't have experience of the cut leaf variety. Re cutting to the ground, is it a grafted tree? You don't want to lose the cut leaves by going below a graft