please help my mum

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by intermiplants, Nov 19, 2007.

  1. intermiplants

    intermiplants Gardener

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    my mum has 5/6 very large conifers that have grown about 25/30ft but had grown that high that they was taking out the telephone wires for the rest of the street. now she really loved these conifers as they blocked out the rest of the street overlooking her back garden.well my uncle has just bought a chainsaw and you have seen nothing like it in your life you know boys and toys. [​IMG] [​IMG] i went up yesterday and there is hardly anything left from about 15ft upwards it looks like a fire has swept, through no green whatsoever its the biggest eyesore you can imagine and after being sheltered for 20 years it now looks like her back garden has been raped, i will post a picture this week. will these grow back there is no life or branches half way up
     
  2. Marley Farley

    Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

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    :eek: Oh my goodness IMP..... I doubt it very much if they have cut all the growth of...!!! Depending on type of course. You could try feeding them, but even then it will be very slow growth... In my experience, conifers do not like to be cut back that hard for recovery...! Maybe while you decide what to do you could put some fast growing climbers by the tree stumps & let them rassle in together.. That way you may get some privacy back... Clematis Montana, Russian vine, Passiflora, things like that. Otherwise I think you will have to think of re-planting.. Good Luck..!!!

    [ 19. November 2007, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Marley Farley ]
     
  3. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Hi Imp, until we see the pictures we can't really be sure but if he has taken off the side branches and left the trunks then it is likely that there will be little or no regrowth. If the trunk is cut down to just below where the lower branches have their green tips extending upwards then there is a chance that new growth will come up from the lower trunks. Some of these will eventually form themselves into what appears to be the continuation of the original. From what you said about the height I would guess that they are more likely to be Leylandii. It would help if your mother could give us a rough idea of how long the trees have been there. MF's idea would work with this as well. Good luck!
     
  4. Honey Bee

    Honey Bee Gardener

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    Oh dear!!!! My friends did this, although their hedge started at about 10ft - they just thinned it as it was over the pavement..... took a good 3 or 4 years before it was totally green and hole free again..... :(
     
  5. intermiplants

    intermiplants Gardener

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  6. intermiplants

    intermiplants Gardener

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  7. intermiplants

    intermiplants Gardener

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  8. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    Inter, why has he cut off all the branches garden side? why not just lop the tops off? Any chance of a photo from outside the fence? To me they look like Cupressus and I don`t think they will recover from this treatment.
     
  9. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    I think, they will, from now on, always look like that and probably slowly die.
    Chainsaw massacre or what?
     
  10. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    If they`d been yews it would have been a Taxus chainsaw massacre. :(
     
  11. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    If they had been yews they would have just regrown. :D
     
  12. Victoria

    Victoria Lover of Exotic Flora

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    What an eyesore, imp. I don't think there's much hope either. I think Marley's idea of quick-growing climbers may solve the problem in the short term.

    David ... one of my favourite all-time horror movies. I remember going to the movies and then the following Sunday waking up to the sound of a chainsaw and thought my time had come. :eek:
     
  13. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    The branches on the other side of the fence will continue to grow but on your side I don't think there is much of a chance for anything. I think your best bet is to cut them down, grub out the roots, dig some compost and manure in and ask on here for some advice of what to grow in their place.

    Sorry to sound so negative but very few conifers can recover from this sort of damage and those that can would take ages to do so.

    On the upside, as those conifers were so large they would have depleted the nutrition in the soil all around them so starting from scratch will give you an opportunity to make the end of the garden look very nice.
     
  14. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    Inter I think Shiney has put into words what we have all been hinting at, they are spoiled beyond repair.
     
  15. intermiplants

    intermiplants Gardener

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    [​IMG] be a while before they speak my mums thinks she has been on you been framed :mad: [​IMG]
     
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