I have a cedar hedge that I share with a neighbour. The hedge is over 30 years old and approximately 10' high. It had been well-maintained and quite bushy. To my horror, the other day my neighbour had decided to "help" the hedge by cutting off EVERY branch within 3' of the ground!!! She cut each branch flush with the trunk of the tree. She felt she was getting rid of "all the dead stuff to let the trees breathe". WHAT!? I have several questions: 1) Seeing as these trees have been so extensively amputated so late in the season, are they doomed? 2) Is there anything I can possibly do to fix this? 3) Am I wrong in thinking this was a horrible idea? 4) Is there any chance that the tree will replace its lower branches? Or, at the least, will the middle branches droop down now and fill in the gape?
