Trees: veteran tree management

Thomson Ecology’s arboriculture team provides practical advice on how to manage veteran trees. Our management plans clearly lay out the required measures to ensure the survival of your veteran trees.

The definition of a veteran tree

A veteran tree can be defined as ‘a tree that is of interest biologically, culturally or aesthetically because of its age, size or condition’ (Ancient Tree Forum). They are extremely vulnerable to changes in the environment around them; sensitive management is therefore essential.

Importance of veteran trees

Britain has the largest number of veteran trees in Europe. They provide habitat for many rare species of invertebrates (particularly beetles), bryophytes (mosses, liverworts etc), lichens and fungi.

Pollards

Many veterans are former pollards which are a reminder of our cultural past. Pollards were ‘working trees’, harvested like coppice stools but above the reach of browsing mammals. The harvested material was used for firewood, building materials and animal fodder.

Other types of veteran trees

As well as pollards there are several other forms of veteran represented in the UK. These include:
maidens - trees that have not been subject to heavy pruning as a management technique;
coppards - former coppice stools that have been pollarded.
shredded - trees that have had lateral branches originating from the main stem harvested on a rotation.

Management techniques for veteran trees

There are a number of techniques that can be employed to properly care for populations of veteran trees. These include:

crown reductio - to reduce the ‘sail’ area of large specimens in order to reduce the risk of windthrow.

veteranisation - the process of promoting features associated with veteran trees on young trees to maintain habitat continuity

repollarding - reinstating pollarding for trees that were once managed using this technique but have not been cut for many years. This is a delicate process which can lead to the death of the tree. Some species have a more favourable response (hornbeam - Carpinus betulus), than others (beech - Fagus sylvatica).

haloing - the removal of younger trees surrounding veterans that are beginning to out-compete them.

coronet cuts - pruning cuts that imitate natural limb failures, thus encouraging deadwood to form.

restanding - re-erecting fallen mature or veteran trees to increase the volume of standing deadwood in an area.

For more advice on veteran trees, please call us on 01483 466000.

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