Laurel hedge -- will it regrow?

This is my first post on this forum -- any advice gratefully accepted!
This week I had a tree surgeon in to reduce the height of a laurel hedge, which was about 4m high. I wanted something manageable. The tree surgeon went rather further than I expected and has taken the hedge back to a skeleton about 3ft high, with very little green left on it.
It obviously looks unsightly at the moment and I know the neighbours are none too impressed. Will the hedge recover OK? How long will it be before it starts greening up and looking less bare? I am trying to have faith in the tree surgeon's experience, but my heart sinks every time I look at it at the moment.
Thank you.

 

In my experience, yes. A long time ago I cut down a couple of laurels we planted at the bottom of the garden and they re-grew. "I had to beat them to death with a stick" well..dig them up to get rid of them.
Most shrubs will recover, but not all, we've a camellia that was cut down to little more than a stump and moved a year ago and that has recovered really well.
Yet a big ceanothus I cut back a bit too far many years ago, didn't.

I'd suggest if the guy was a qualified tree surgeon and knew you only wanted it cutting back, he wouldn't have gone that far if he didn't think it would re-grow. There would have been no point.

 

I think Laurel is indestructible JOKO.
You could fell it at ground level with a chain saw and it would be back.
I think 16' to 3' is a big difference and maybe you should have discussed that with the tree surgeon before the work was done, but I wouldn't be surprised if that laurel was back up to 6' before the year is over.
Maybe he was just trying to give you your moneys worth.
That Laurel will be back sooner than you hoped.

 

Alice is right JOKO. I planted a bed last year in front of a laurel hedge which had been "butchered" (see picture). It is now flourishing madly.

Chris