cutting back an arborvitae
My newly purchased house has two large (15') arborvitae trees in front of a small front porch. They are so large they block out any light in the front windows and porch. A landscaper recommended removing them and replacing with some boxwood. The trees are healthy, and I hate to cut them down (not to mention the expense of hiring a landscaping company.) Is there any way I can cut these back significantly (almost by half)? Would it be ok to trim back a few feet a year? Or can these trees be "topped" all at once to look more like a shrub? What would be the best tool to use? Is it too late in the season to do anything this year?(I live in North Eastern U.S.) This is my first house so I'm totally new to this. Thank you so much for your help!
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cutting back an arborvitae
On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:09:34 +0000, Lisa Leng
wrote: My newly purchased house has two large (15') arborvitae trees in front of a small front porch. They are so large they block out any light in the front windows, and porch. A landscaper recommended removing them and replacing with some boxwood. The trees are healthy, and I hate to cut them down (not to mention the expense of hiring a landscaping company.) Is there any way I can cut these back significantly (almost by half)? Would it be ok to trim back a few feet a year? Or can these trees be "topped" all at once to look more like a shrub? What would be the best tool to use? Is it too late in the season to do anything this year?(I live in North Eastern U.S.) This is my first house so I'm totally new to this. Thank you so much for your help! American arborvitae can be drastically pruned back and will recover but can take years and will never attain its proper form... it'll live but I doubt you will be happy with the result. I would remove them and plant new... I would suggest globe arborvitae, or choose a compact form juniper. There are literally hundreds of plantings that would be suitable but without seeing a picture of your house and what kind of space you have to work with it's difficult to suggest specifics. Give your house a face lift, young compact foundation plantings make an older house look newer. Often with older homes all the foundation plantings are also old and over grown, it would be wise to remove all and plant new... new plantings is one of the first improvements to make when moving into an existing home, plants need time to grow... new young shrubs are inexpensive, you only need invest a little labor. |
cutting back an arborvitae
On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:09:34 +0000, Lisa Leng
wrote: My newly purchased house has two large (15') arborvitae trees in front of a small front porch. They are so large they block out any light in the front windows, and porch. A landscaper recommended removing them and replacing with some boxwood. The trees are healthy, and I hate to cut them down (not to mention the expense of hiring a landscaping company.) Is there any way I can cut these back significantly (almost by half)? Would it be ok to trim back a few feet a year? Or can these trees be "topped" all at once to look more like a shrub? What would be the best tool to use? Is it too late in the season to do anything this year?(I live in North Eastern U.S.) This is my first house so I'm totally new to this. Thank you so much for your help! All the pruned arborvitae I have seen do not look good at all, sometimes get worse the following years. Your landscaper is giving you very good advice. |
cutting back an arborvitae
Susan wrote:
On 6/27/2010 11:29 AM, Phisherman wrote: All the pruned arborvitae I have seen do not look good at all, sometimes get worse the following years. Your landscaper is giving you very good advice. I have a large emerald arborvitae that my landscaper trims the width/girth of, though not the height, to keep it in bounds where it's hiding an unsightly meter on the front of my house. It's robustly healthy and full, even after having been sheared into a too narrow cone shape last year. I think cutting the top a bit and shearing the width each year should be tried so as to preserve them if possible. If they get enough sun, new growth will sprout quickly anywhere they look thin or less filled out. Shearing is a lot different from topping. Most conifers respond positively to shearing but few react well to topping. There are many varieties of arborvitae, had the OP submitted a photo that would help immeasurably to advise. Topping most of an older tall variety would result in many years of looking at a stumpy bush... will likely slowly die from not being able to heal so large a wound, would lose strength and be prone to disease and insect attack. I would remove it and plant something more suitable for the space alloted. http://www.evergreenplantnursery.com...-Thuja-s/1.htm |
cutting back an arborvitae
Phisherman wrote:
.... All the pruned arborvitae I have seen do not look good at all, sometimes get worse the following years. Your landscaper is giving you very good advice. they'll recover from a lot of abuse if they don't get too dried out in the winter winds when their center is exposed. we have a few that get munched on by the deer and i just go along and trim out the dead stuff left behind. they sprout new to fill in eventually if left alone. but i do agree with the landscaper. they smell nice, but they grow too big for next to foundation planting. songbird |
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