Hi. We bought our "dream house" 8 months ago...complete with a beautiful row of arborvitae trees in the back yard that separate us from a rather unsightly (and noisy) apartment complex. The row of trees is approximately 100' wide and the trees are about 25' tall. Unfortunately, some of the trees have begun to fall over. We have about 6 of them staked now. In talking to a neighbor, we learned the trees are about 10 years old and were put in with some kind of irrigation system that fostered quick growth (probably to hide the apartment complex). All well and good, but some 10 years later, I have trees wilting like daisies...which is counter-intuitive because they appear so full and green. My neighbor suggests cutting them down to about 5' and letting them fill in on their own at a normal pace. It would be painful to lose all that height, but if it will save the trees and give us the beautiful, strong, natural border we're looking for, I'll bite the proverbial bullet. I've read a couple other threads from this site on the same type of issues, but I don't understand enough to decipher whether cutting them back is a good idea. I see now that I need to mulch them, which doesn't appear to have been done for years. I also understand the need to get sunlight to the lower portions of the tree, which must be weak or the trees wouldn't topple. The trunks, though, are painfully thin. I'm not sure it's a matter of them needing to fill in so much as the trees' inside support network needing to strengthen. Can you help me? After sinking all this money into the house, I can't afford a nursery or an arborist of my own to come look at them. But I'm desperate to do what's best..I'm in it for the long haul and want everything with this house to be a long-term investment. Thanks so much... Kristy
Hi, well right now is a bad time to be cutting them at all, so that will have to wait for spring, but I'm not sure that's the problem. That irrigation system... has anyone (professional) looked into it in a while? It may either be keeping the trees way too wet (rot will cause them to fall over of course), or not allowing them to drink properly even when it rains. Plus if the soil is bad there (clay, or sand, or...) and they're not getting enough nutrients, that could be a problem also, but I wouldn't just rush out and start feeding them right now as they're obviously stressed otherwise. I would get an arborist (tree doctor) in to see what's going on (could even be some kind of disease or live pest) and give you an answer (hard to diagnose these things on the net :-).
Gosh, I'm so confused! Everything I read said to cut them in the fall! The irrigation system was removed after the trees had a good start, I believe...I don't see anything there now, and I just climbed through it to get rid of all the poison and other "weed" type stuff that I was afraid may be hampering their nutrition. The soil here is very rich, and another neighbor's new trees are doing extremely well. I live up an embankment from a creek, and there's a lot of vegetation just to the left of my back yard. Thanks for the response!
'The fall" means late fall, like November, not mid August, which is still summer to trees. The point is that when you prune anything (in a major way) rather than just trim foliage for neatness, you stimulate it to produce new branches, and apart from the fact they wouldn't have a chance to harden off (adjust to) the cold before winter comes, a weak tree would only be stressed more than it could handle. Getting rid of surface weeds though, won't have any effect on the trees.
Thanks for the responses. With respect to erosion, the ground around the trees is stable, if that's what you mean...none of the soil around them is eroding. But the embankment does have some erosion, about 30 feet or so away, although nothing urgent or threatening...but would that affect them? And if I read Rima's response correctly, cutting them now would just make them vulnerable to the winter weather. So the pruning should wait until Spring. I think I understand now. Would it help if I post pictures of the trees and surrounding area?
Get an arborist! Sounds like your neighbour might have a hidden agenda? Cutting a 25' tree back to 5' does not sound like reasonable or impartial advice. Simon
