Hello group I have a long row of cedars that are somewhere between hedge and trees. They line the sidewalk/border of my home. They have not been trimmed for years. They are over 7 feet tall and are maybe 4 feet wide. They have overgrown in width so much that they take up about a foot of sidewalk. I want to trim them back and tame them, but if I cut back 1 foot from the sidewalk then there will be only branches, no green. The side that is crowding the sidewalk is facing south, so it gets plenty of sun (in Victoria BC). I would be willing to go ahead and cut off about 12 inches to clear the sidwalk, and have a nasty looking branch/twig only hedge for a little while (at least on the sidewalk border). I would like to know if I did this, how long would it take for the leafless branches to sprout new leaves and start to look respectable (green) again. Thanks for your advice Waz
Waz, Once you cut to that extent it will stay like that. They should have been tip pruned regularly. Liz
Any reason why you would not want to cut the branches off at the trunk to manicure one side and narrow it? Would doing that leave one side green? Too bad it's not yew so it would sprout from bare wood.
We do not want the sidewalk side to be bare. If I cut off the branches at the trunk, would that not increase the time it would require to grow back more leaveson that side?