Pete E

Cheers

Thanks jarborist - good extra point about the next time. Shouldn't that mean a heavier cut first, with lighter trimming in later efforts?

Thanks for a good reply Gnarlyoak, certainly worth doing a thinning rather than dropping it. Good comment on the cherry too. You can't see but unfortunately the lime has seriously overshadowed it and the back is dying off. Planting it was probably a good idea 50 years ago, but too close. I'll see how it responds after thinning the lime.

Thanks for confirmation - its worth the effort if I can reduce by 1/3 it should suffice.

Thanks for the advice - at least the neighbours will be satisfied I've responded

Made me laugh out loud Matty - last guy I asked for a quote, walked up the dive and saw my Merc and immediately doubled his phone quote. Didn't get the job.

Thanks Steve - gives me confidence to arrange heavy pruning.

Thanks very much Stere - good example of somebody succeeding with the same issue.

Cheers Stubby - unfortunately it's brick bottomed, so not so easy. I'd have preferred it in the side garden myself, instead of in full view but hey-ho.

Hi I have a mature Common Lime at the bottom of the garden. Girth is 2.5m so I guess about 80 years old, its 15-18m tall and 12-15m diameter. The tree is in good condition with a dense canopy. A couple of neighbours are complaining about the shade it casts over their gardens also over (the wife's) greenhouse. I really don't want to take it down, but its starting to dominate, so I need advice on how / if the canopy can be reduced. It's too mature for pollarding and just chopping the top off is not the right thing to do. I had a nearby Ash cut hard back to the trunk and main branches, which reduced height and spread by 1/3, but that produces shoots easily all the way up and is doing well. Can I expect the same from a Lime? Or can it be sensibly thinned out to reduce the shadow?