This is a very basic form of tree management originally undertaken as a form of agricultural tree management. Today it is still employed as a way of retaining large trees in an area where there is not enough room for their full canopies. If you think of the London Plane trees throughout the capital all these trees are managed as a form of pollarding. It can also be a way of retaining a tree in your garden that is in severe decline to make the tree safe if a canopy reduction is not suitable and felling it completely is not desired. Not all species can be managed as a pollard and once pruned in this way works will have to be revisited frequently in future years.
Re-Pollarding
We rarely advise trees to be pollarded as the effect on a mature tree is irreversible and a future management plan should be undertaken.
However, we are often employed to maintain historically pollarded trees removing the regenerated growth to the original pruning points.