🐄 A hornless animal 🌳 A cut-back tree ✂️ To cut branches

pollard

9.9

A tree whose top branches are cut back regularly to make dense new growth

noun
/ˈpɒl.ərd/

: pollard

Gardeners decided to make the willow a pollard to encourage more foliage.

Examples

The old oak tree was a magnificent pollard.
Many pollards can be found along the riverbank.
After years of regular cutting, the oak became a dense pollard.
The ancient pollard by the river provides a home for many birds.
The gardeners decided to create pollards by trimming the willow trees into neat shapes that encouraged dense foliage.
During the spring, the old oak trees were transformed into pollards to promote healthy growth and a bushy canopy.
In the park, visitors admired the pollards, which had been carefully pruned to enhance their lush appearance.

How Severe

coppicing

Specialized

8.3

pollard

9.9

taille

Specialized

9.9

trimming

8 2.3

Surface Forms

pollard singular

pollards plural

Morphology

pollard = poll (semi-transparent) = poll + ard

Derived from the verb/noun 'poll' (to cut back the top) plus '-ard'; the horticultural meaning (a tree pruned in this way) is specific and may not be obvious to learners who do not know the verb 'to poll'.

Etymology

Pollard comes from the old word poll meaning 'head' or 'top'. That's why a pollard tree is one whose top has been cut back so it grows a new, dense 'head' of branches and leaves.