Today's focus on our Hyde Hall gardening team for #NationalGardeningWeek is all about pollarding willow! Here Sarah is coppicing Salix alba var. vitellina 'Britzensis' (m). Each spring, we pollard our living willow sculptures. Pollarding the willows annually in this way produces 1 years growth - new stems are then young, colourful & pliable to sculpt with the following winter. | RHS Garden Hyde Hall

Pollarding is a method of pruning that keeps trees and shrubs smaller than they would naturally grow. It is normally started once a tree or shrub reaches a certain height, and annual pollarding will restrict the plant to that height. Pollarding is best carried out during the dormant winter months, when the leaves of deciduous trees have fallen, it’s much easier to see the shape you are creating and there’s less stress to the tree as there is minimal loss of sap. You shouldn’t pollard a mature tr