4 ms·
I wonder if this is the reason the Dutch (still) like to cut the tops off of willow trees every year or few. Just as the trees are starting to look great, a cr
by blunte 5y ago
I wonder if this is the reason the Dutch (still) like to cut the tops off of willow trees every year or few. Just as the trees are starting to look great, a crew will show up and cut off all the branches, leaving a big fat nub on top of the trunk. And next year, it's grown back.
I do understand that with some of these trees, they can grow so big and so wide that the tree will split and possibly die (although there are some enormous trees still living with just partial shells of a trunk and no core).
- Turing_Machine 5y agoThe old-fashioned word for these willow twigs in English is "withies" (cf. Tolkien's "Withywindle" river in LOTR). Coppicing has a long history in Europe (and some other parts of the world). Many other species are used for this, not just willows. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing "Fascine" comes from the same Latin root as "fascism". The fasces was a bundle of sticks (sometimes with an ax embedded in it) that was used by the Romans as a badge of office. Mussolini's Fascist party appropriated the symbol. It's seen in many other places, though, including in the ceremonial mace of the U.S. House of Representatives and the seal of the U.S. Senate.
- ZeroGravitas 5y agoThat's the "pollarding" referred to in the article. It is something that varies in popularity by region: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding