In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:
"EmmaByson" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then growing
clematis over the dead body ...

You could pollard the tree rather than kill it, use a hard prune type
clematis like a viticella or maybe a yellow tibetiana type then both jobs
cab be done at the same time each year, I do this with a sweet chestnut and
it works very well.

Pollarding a HORSE chestnut? Yes, I can see a true chestnut behaving
well, but surely the soft wood of the former would rot and the tree
collapse?

My suggestion would be to remove the branches at an appropriate
distance (aesthetically and for safety) and proceed as the original
poster said. Provided that it wouldn't do any major harm when it
falls over (as it will, eventually), that is fine.

It would also be possible to use either a single clematis, or a
combination of early- and late-flowering ones (say C. montana and
C. tangutica). The latter approach would be unprunable, of course.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.