Looking for ways to trim hemlock trees. I have 12 trees, some are 20
feet high. Thanks.

wrote:

Looking for ways to trim hemlock trees. I have 12 trees, some are 20
feet high. Thanks.

What do you mean by trim....? reducing the height? If so, this is called
topping and is definitely not a recommended practice for a single leader
conifer like a hemlock. Depending on species, hemlocks can grow
considerably taller than 20 feet. I can see 60+ footers outide my window
right now. If this is a height you cannot tolerate, then perhaps a more
reasonable option is to remove them and replant with something that will
stay closer to the height you desire. For the majority of single leader
conifers, the only trimming that should be done is limbing up to elevate
the branches or thinning to reduce wind resistance. Shearing, topping or
lopping off branches in mid-limb is only going to result in an ugly,
malformed and often disease-prone tree.

I have seen hedges of hemlock, but that is a practice that is started
when the trees are very small, Typically, they are not long lived when
treated in this manner.

pam - gardengal

wrote:

Looking for ways to trim hemlock trees. I have 12 trees, some are 20
feet high. Thanks.

What do you mean by trim....? reducing the height? If so, this is called
topping and is definitely not a recommended practice for a single leader
conifer like a hemlock. Depending on species, hemlocks can grow
considerably taller than 20 feet. I can see 60+ footers outide my window
right now. If this is a height you cannot tolerate, then perhaps a more
reasonable option is to remove them and replant with something that will
stay closer to the height you desire. For the majority of single leader
conifers, the only trimming that should be done is limbing up to elevate
the branches or thinning to reduce wind resistance. Shearing, topping or
lopping off branches in mid-limb is only going to result in an ugly,
malformed and often disease-prone tree.

I have seen hedges of hemlock, but that is a practice that is started
when the trees are very small, Typically, they are not long lived when
treated in this manner.

pam - gardengal