I have been told it is possible to hard prune the bottom 6ft of thuja
plicata as new growth is possible without seriously damaging the tree.
Others tell me that pruning back to the brown branches will damage the tree.
I wish to recover some lost ground space as the trees have been neglected
over the years. The trees are south-facing, so is it possible to prune
these trees (6ft up from ground level, and up to 6 ft towards the main
trunk)?

Regards

Colin Cormack wrote:
I have been told it is possible to hard prune the bottom 6ft of thuja
plicata as new growth is possible without seriously damaging the tree.
Others tell me that pruning back to the brown branches will damage
the tree. I wish to recover some lost ground space as the trees have
been neglected over the years. The trees are south-facing, so is it
possible to prune these trees (6ft up from ground level, and up to 6
ft towards the main trunk)?

Regards

The RHS "Pruning" by Christopher Brickell says no dormant buds on brown
woody branches. Clip the gren bits but leave actual pruning to removing
unsightly dead branches. It also reckons that height control by cutting back
is never very succesful leaving disfigured plants that are best removed...

Les


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