Trees topped :((

[Chiara]

My fantastic Polish builder has done such a great job on our house that I trusted him wholly when he recommended a supposed qualified aborist to crop a bit of height off our gorgeous cherry plum trees. Unfortunately it would seem he had no idea what he was doing as I came home to x2 completely butchered trees - every single leaf bearing branch removed. I am completely and utterly devastated

What do you recommend I do??

Do I keep them and wait for them to grow back??

Does anyone know how long this will take?!

Will we see any green this summer??

And will they ever blossom again??

How quickly might they grow back??

I'm not sure how long I can stand seeing the depressing stumps for that long...

Would be great to hear any advice or recommendations that might help us through this dreadful situation.

Thanks so much.

[woodyguy]

Don't be in a hurry. Wait until autumn then reassess. There isn't a massive chance of silver leaf and way below 90%. By removing poorly growing branches you can for no expense have a reasonable tree. Not a great beauty, but not spending £1000 either.

[peatff]

Looking at the situation, is the house a new build and the trees were there before the fence was put up ? I bet the neighbours both sides are happier now. The garden would look better with one tree in the middle at the bottom if you absolutely have to have a tree

[Chiara]

Hi Peatff, its a Victorian house which needed totally gutting. No central heating etc.

The garden had x5 trees in it (including those two) plus built up with concrete. My husband and I cleared the whole garden except the two big trees as we were keen to keep them but tidy them up a bit (as one side of neighbours had complained) plus we were keen to get a bit more light in the area... But as you can see the trim/cropping has turned into butchery...

[peatff]

I would think the gardener on the right has complained as the roots on that tree will be more on his garden than yours and it looks like he does grow food crops. We had a cherry tree on out garden five feet from the boundary and it still grew onto next door when I neglected it and I ended up taking it out as I respect my neighbour and his opinion and it was too big for the spot it was in. After I cut it down it was still suckering in the lawn two years later. I would take both out and put a something dwarf or columnar in a better position.