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Thread: Evergreens!!!!

  1. #1
    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    Default Evergreens!!!!

    I am in the process of cleaning up the yard for the season. I'm trying to get it done before it's time to plant the garden so I don't have an overload on my things to do list. My issue right now is with some evergreen trees.

    I have one actual pine tree that I would like to trim up for shaping purposes and to reduce it's growth. Is there anything I need to be cautious about with it or is it okay to just "cut it down to size"?

    I also have four other evergreen trees that aren't pine trees that were planted a few feet away from the fence. They grew about three feet over the past two years and I would like to reduce the height of two of them. I would also like to cut them back away from the fence. Is it okay to just hack away at them too?

    I will try to get some pics posted of them tomorrow to clarify what I am trying to address. Thanks for the help!


  2. #2
    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    It depends on what type of evergreen. Arborvitae do not trim well. You can top them and they will eventually fill in at the top. If you trim the sides to the point of being bare hoping they will fill in, they usually don't. I would identify the type of evergreen and specifically look up pruning for that species.

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    Karl

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  3. #3
    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    evergreen.jpgevergreen leaf.jpg

    Here's a pic of the evergreens that are too close to the fence that I want to trim. The two in the middle are the one's that I want to shorten a bit.

  4. #4
    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    pine tree.jpg

    This is the pine tree that I want to shape up. As you can see, it kinda wavy.

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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    Post #3 looks like possibly Pyramidal or emerald Arborvitae. Try to positively identify the type of arborvitae, look up pruning techniques and follow their advice. Yours look young enough that you can effectively prune them to achieve what you want. If you top the center two they will look chopped. you may want to top the two on the ends to make them look similar. Topping will encourage the growth below the cut.

    If the side along the fence is trimmed do not trim to bare branch. the green will not grow back. If you keep trimming to keep the shape you will keep them in control and manageable. Arborvitae make a great screen but if you don't keep them under control they will grow out of bounds with bare spots that will not grow back. The only option is to remove them and start over.

    1995 ish
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    There was a span of five years 2002 to 2007 or so that the Arborvitae were not maintained. by the time I bought the house the landscaping went wild and there was no return for the arborvitae in front. They are bare in the center and the branches are so long that snow causes breaks. Debris from the snow plows have caused bare spots at the base. They were also planted too close to the sidewalk. There are 32 and will be taken out soon. Anyone want to come the first Arborvitae derbies hut Jamboree in West Virginia??

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    I'm not familiar with the long needle pine in post 4.
    Karl

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    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    Okay, after doing some research on the trees in post 3, I have determined that they are pyrimidal arborvitae. The major difference from what I can tell between them and the emerald is the size they grow to. Emerald work better for a "hedge" where as pyrimidal work better as a tree. Looking at how the were planted so close together and so close to the fence, I'm geussing that whoever put them in originally thought they were emerald and planted them to form a privacy hedge. As beautiful as the pyrimidal is, they can grow up to 30ft tall and have a base up to 6ft in diameter. You also can't prune it when they are as mature as mine are. I cry because they will have to be removed!!!!!

    I'm still working on the other pine tree.

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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    Mine were planted 2" on center and less then 2" from the walk. Not quite the space they needed. The make a great sound buffer from the traffic but have grown butuggly.
    Karl

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    I don't know, I don't think they look like thuja occidentalis, I think they look more like thuja plicata, or one of the others. The foliage on occidentalis (your emerald green arborvitaes) is greener, and also slightly different in texture, and they also have multiple leaders (almost always) whereas plicata has a single leader. Could also be a hybrid like http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/grgiant.pdf but of plicata parentage. The sparser top growth is also a give away.

    If I'm right I wouldn't remove them. These trees can look really nice when old. Don't top them, but you can limb them up to continue to free up the ground level space. You can even do serve pruning in a bonsai or niwagi style.

    The pine now, please don't top that, no tree looks good if it is topped, and as for it being wavy... so what? And it isn't that bad. As the tree matures it'll firm up, a little waviness would just add character anyways.

    If you're trying to even it up anyways it is futile. If you prune back the branches on a side growing longer or whatever you'll just make it grow bushier instead, and it'll still look lopsided, but in a different way.

    The one thing you need to do though is remove the extra leader. If you notice near the top the tree has two upward branches trying to be the central leader, generally when that happens you want to prune the weaker (thinner, less straight) one off. That is the only pruning I would do on it.

  9. #9
    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    I agree with Chris.. It does look more like "Green Giant" thuja plicata. What chris said about looking real nice when they mature is true. Don't look at mine as an example of how they mature. Mine were planted without enough consideration and has resulted in damage and drastic pruning to keep clear of sidewalk.
    Karl

    The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion the the effort he puts into whatever field of endeavor he chooses. Vincent T Lombardi

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    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    Thanks Chris! I appreciate the tip on the pine tree. As far as the "Green Giant", I am still going to have to remove them because they are way too close to the fence. The middle two are already deadish on the backside. Unfortunatelty, they were not planted with suffucient space. I really kinda liked them too!

  11. #11

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    They do have very attractive trunks, you can limb them up to a height above the fence, so that their foliage no longer crowds the fence by goes over the top of it.

    http://img.geocaching.com/cache/ed1e...8c55ce44fd.jpg

    Of course these are very very often planted along fences to create hedges, they will lose the foliage where no light gets, like all trees, but that usually faces an area you don't see so most do not mind.

    They also do seem small enough that they could still be moved. This would be the right time of year to do it.

  12. #12
    Senior Member natertot's Avatar
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    I wouldn't mind limbing them above the fence. My only concern there would be that two/thirds of the backside would be bare when it grows to full maturity. It would look okay on my side of the fence, my neighbor.....notsomuch. I could move them, but that is a huge feat as well. My back yard is completely fenced in and I would have to remove a huge portion of it to get the equipment in. I would also have to remove a bunch of bushes along that portion of the fence so the equipment doesn't run over it. Only way around that would be to remove the fence behind the trees and go in that way. Then I would have to take the equipment through my neighbors yard. I don't know if he'd like that. Not to mention, he has a German Shepard with PTSD and I'd be a bit concerned he would come into my back yard with that fence down.

    I think it might be easier to just cut 'em down and get new ones to plant in a better position. Cheaper and less labor intensive anyway.

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