Pollarding or Tree Abuse?
Day 31 Arzua to Rua Miles today: 11.7 Elevation Gain: 762’ Descent: 1117’ Walking miles: 378.9 Total Camino miles: 492.7 Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport – Unknown Throughout Spain we have noticed what we consider to be grotesquely pruned trees in most villages, towns, and cities. To us it appears to be a form of “tree abuse”. We did some research on this bizarre practice and learned it is done throughout Europe and today is done primarily on a tree called the English Plane Tree. Mostly we have seen it in its winter form when it is severely pruned and not leafed out yet. Supposedly these trees are more attractive once the new growth leafs out. The following is a bit about pollarding along with some photos of the trees. The ultimate pollard success appears to be to get nearby trees to actually fuse branches with one another, such as across a street. Attractive or t...