Shredding is a traditional European method of tree pruning by which all side branches are removed repeatedly leaving the main trunk and top growth. In the Middle Ages the practice was common throughout Europe, but it is now rare, found mainly in central and Eastern Europe.
The purpose of shredding is to allow harvest of firewood and animal fodder while preserving a tall main trunk which may be harvested for timber at a later date.
It was formerly practiced in Britain although
Oliver Rackham notes that "The medieval practice of shredding – cropping the side-branches of a tree leaving a tuft at the top – vanished from Britain long ago. Only at
Haresfield
Haresfield is a village near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England around one mile from Junction 12 of the M5 motorway and between the villages of Brookthorpe, Harescombe and Hardwicke. The population of the village taken at the 2011 census ...
(Gloucestershire) have I seen a few ancient ashes that may once have been shredded".
Another name for cutting side branches off trees, used mainly in Northern England, is snagging.
Other similar woodland management techniques include
pollarding
Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice o ...
and
coppicing
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...
.
See also
*
Woodland management
References
{{Forestry
Forest management
Horticulture
Trees