Evergreen Tree - Whne can i prune it? pics attached

oinkely

Hi All,

Just a quick question - anyone know when is the best time to go about giving this tree (or group of trees) a serious trimming?

I moved into our house 5 years ago and there is a green outside with this growin in the corner. It's about three times the size it was back then and I reckon it could do with a trimming before ti gets to unruly.

Anyway, if anyone knows when is agood time to do this and how much i can cut back it would be great.

Also, what's it called?

magicbastarder

that sort of tree is generally very hard to prune; if you prune 'past the green', it will not grow fresh growth.

Oldtree

yes you cannot prune back these to old wood as they wont recover.

You could treat this more as a hedge and therefore preservation of the "face" is the important thing. therefore in order to avoid frost killing off newly exposed growth after pruning, mid summer would be a good time to prune these conifers.

The only thing you can do with them is the kind of shape below, prune back to that point initally and keep trimming to that point and shape thereafter. Its important to get the shape right in the first place and symetrical if possible.

It does not look like you own these plants so get the written permission from the owner before starting. They do afford you some privacy which is another point.

oinkely

Thanks for the replies folks,
Oldtree, the diagram is great.
The trees are on a green that is in the centre of all of our houses (public space really) so I will definitely check with the Residents Association before going at them. We have had to pay out large amonts of money in the past to deal with overgrown trees on the green creating potential falling hazards.
I guess I wanted to be a bit proactive in preventing this guy from going the same way and getting to a point where it can only be removed completely, rathen than managed and retained.
I'll put in on the list of things to do in the summer so.
Thanks again, very helpful

planetX

horrible ugly things - if they're left they'll get huge. I'd use the proximity to the road as one reason to fell them. Plant some nice birch or rowan instead.

looksee

Yes, they are only going to get bigger, and will need to be trimmed every year.