conifer topping whats your view

[philip2011]

toppiing at ground lvl would be ideal but not his cup of tea lol

[Paul Jenks]

Blimey, they're only conifers. Do what you like to them. Leave a bit of green somewhere and they'll probably come back.

[philip2011]

lol fair comment i hate them personally just trying to keep my m8 happy

[Gary Prentice]

he has not spoke about the sides been trimmed might be difficult to do as well as they are very bushy and i can do his side but not sure how his neigbours would react done some work for him before and all i can say is they are not friendly or nice people

 

So they're 20-25ft tall and bushy and for some reason the neighbours aren't friendly. I wonder if the trees are a material consideration in the relationship?

[philip2011]

well if it causes ruts between them then ill leave them to it ive just been asjed to do it

[daltontrees]

No-one yet has asked what kind of conifers they are, so let me be the foirst. What kind of conifers are they? Don't need a definite ID, just a general ID like Spruce, Pine, Fir, Cedar, Cypress, Larch, Hemlock etc. What's right in the circumstances could eb dictated by the type of trees.

[Peasgood]

We have reduced leylandii by 60' (yes, sixty foot) many many times and they have survived. They didn't just survive, they flourished.

[Shane]

This may sound like total crud-speak (what's new) but here goes.

 

I have done a few connies over the years and I recon theres a point at which a reduction on leylandii results in no new growth upwards!

 

Yes, once all branches are gone it will not re-grow anyway, but I have seen many examples where a customer insisted on a massive reduction (say.. 60% height) and when we go back to trim the face 2-3 years later there is no new growth at all on the top.

 

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has found this - or am I imagining it?

 

If there is a point at which vertical growth is stopped it could be a useful bit of info to know.

[Peasgood]

I wish it were true Shane but I have never seen it.

I'm a fruit and veg farmer rather than a tree surgeon. Around our fields my Grandfather planted leylands as windbreaks, he then insisted that we didn't top them. Now our hedges are anything up to 90 feet tall. This means at this time of year we have fields that do not get any sunlight on them at all.

 

We cut them down to what we can reach with a hedge cutter, ie. cut 60 foot or more off them. 99% survive and of those they all make new vertical growth.

 

In fact next door did some of them but cut them just too high for the hedge cutter to reach, they are now taller than when they were topped.

 

Also have some that were cut just a few feet from the floor but a "green branch" was retained. These grew in pretty much the same way you would expect a fresh planted one to grow.

[philip2011]

No-one yet has asked what kind of conifers they are, so let me be the foirst. What kind of conifers are they? Don't need a definite ID, just a general ID like Spruce, Pine, Fir, Cedar, Cypress, Larch, Hemlock etc. What's right in the circumstances could eb dictated by the type of trees.

 

leylandii if this helps with your prognosis