what does P4 mean to a tree surgeon?

[ElonGates666]

I live in a block of flats with a communal garden. I have 3 enormous poplars outside my window. Tree surgeons have been here this week and they have already cut down a medium size aspen. I have noticed that someone has put on the bark of the three poplars 'P4' in red paint. They did it on the other side of the trunks so that we can't see it from our windows.

I am hoping that P4 is code for pollarding but I was told by a tree specialist that it means they are going to be taken out. I have tried to Google it but haven't got anywhere. There's no point in asking my landlord because they have lied to me before about trees. We have Poplar Hawk Moths and we used to have bats but this year I haven't seen any.

I was going to say pollarding

The tree surgeons were here today so I went up and asked them. They were continuing to cut down the aspen trees. I said do you have to cut down all these aspens. He said they aren't aspens they are poplars. I said aspens are a type of poplar. Fancy them not knowing that.

Anyway, I was told that P4 means pollard to 4 metres. Which is good because they need pollarding. It's usually done in winter though, so I don't know if they are going to wait till then.

Those 'tree surgeons' will be highly qualified in using chainsaws and working at height. You can gain those qualifications with the most elementary knowledge of tree species.

In any case, they shouldn't be doing that sort of tree work during bird nesting season - it is illegal to disturb nesting birds, and you can hardly check every inch of a large tree for nests before you fell it.

They do have to check for nests before doing anything.

The aspens are very tall but narrow and do not have a dense canopy. The other poplars (with P4 on them) have a very dense canopy so they would never know if there were nests. We have loads of wood pigeons and magpies. Then there will be the caterpillars of the Poplar Hawk Moth. So I am hoping they are going to leave it till winter.

The tree surgeons started on the poplars this morning. The stupid thing is that not only have they cut the trunks to 4 metres, they cut off all of the small branches below that too. So it will have no leaves at all. I don't think the trees are going to survive this.

The local council do that to maples around here and they come back beautifully. You get a round, full crown of leaves on a straight trunk and they look tidy, like toy trees.

They usually do it around February time though.