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!




--
Lisa Leng

 

On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:09:34 +0000, Lisa Leng


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.

 

On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:09:34 +0000, Lisa Leng


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.  

 

x-no-archive: yes

On 6/27/2010 11:29 AM, Phisherman wrote:


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.

Susan

 


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/Arborvitae-Thuja-s/1.htm