Thinning and crown cleaning a multitude of trees in Papworth Everard.

Last week we were in Papworth Everard working on a total of 30 Hornbeam trees for the Parish Council. We were originally contacted by the tennis club, which is bordered by several of the trees, complaining of moss build up on their court, due to lack of light. Being extremely old trees, we decided that reducing them in height would spoil them, and the look of the area. So we decided to use a technique called crown thinning, which is the removal of carefully selected smaller/tertiary branches, which in turn produces a uniform density of foliage around an evenly spaced branch structure. Crown thinning does not alter the overall size or shape of the tree. This process allows more light to pass through the tree and reduce wind resistance. The trees also had their lower crowns raised to give more space and light underneath the canopy of the trees.

The picture below clearly shows how thick the foliage is during the trees time in leaf last year. This year when the trees come into leaf they will allow much more light to pass through.