Pollarding Cottonwood. 100% survival rate on this test.

Last spring, I decided to cut some Cottonwood off at 7 feet tall, to see if they would survive and produce suitable forage for goats or cattle. I cut about 40 young trees in the 4 inch diameter range. All of them survived. This is not surprising since almost every Cottonwood stump continues to put up suckers when they are cut down.

In the season and a half since they were cut, new growth has ranged from 6 to 8 feet in length. This seems like a great way to provide both forage and shade for livestock.