Arborvitaes

[TCBoomer]

Greetings everyone!

I've started a HUGE project after plenty of research. Yet I still have unanswered questions and hope there might be some here that can help with answering. It involves trimming and thinning a 900' hedge consisting of about 300 Arborvitaes. I should point out that I had zero experience with this task prior to starting.

A third of these trees are mature at about 20' tall, planted in 1996. The remaining are about 8-9' tall with a few approaching 12' and these were planted 4 years ago. All of them are healthy with the exception of the mature ones growing wild and getting too big for their place. None have ever been trimmed with the exception of dead or broken branches. Early on I did inquire about trimming them and was told don't bother...something I now regret!

Here's a few questions for starters...

1) I removed about 20-25 cubic yards of dead needles from under the mature ones. The debris was about 6-8"+ deep and as a result a number of the lower branches were buried. Some even rooted themselves. I freed up what I could by clipping, but there are still some that remain partially buried. By that I mean the branch is exposed now but still firmly rooted underneath it. Some even re-sprouted about a foot away from where it entered the ground. Looks like a mini propagation farm under there! Should I leave as be or cut the branch or?

2) Pros & cons with cutting the tops of the mature ones about 2-3'. The purpose being to open the canopy to sunlight as well as even the tops out. My goal, understanding that it will take a few years, is to cut back the base growth from it's current width of about 6-8' back to 4-6'. Yes the insides of these mature ones are bare due to no sunlight and air flow. So that limits my cutting back right now.

3) Right now my approach to thinning is cutting the vertical growth and oddball branches with excessive growth. I'm also taking a stab at shaping them and leaving selective 'holes' for sunlight to get to the insides....but that's not as easy as it appears:confused2: Any tips or tricks of the trade for this procedure would be GREATLY appreciated!

Here's a few pics of what these trees look like prior to starting. You might say they look great but trust me, up close they need help. I'm confident I'll get it done one way or another. I'm down to my last day of vacation...been off the last week...so I'm out the door and back at it after I post this. I'll check back in later.

Thanks in advance for any info or links etc that might assist me.

 

[riptides]

I have no clue for the care of them. I just want to say, those pictures are
amazing.

Now, that is a privacy fence!

 

[dieselscout80]

Greetings everyone!

I've started a HUGE project after plenty of research. Yet I still have unanswered questions and hope there might be some here that can help with answering. It involves trimming and thinning a 900' hedge consisting of about 300 Arborvitaes. I should point out that I had zero experience with this task prior to starting.

A third of these trees are mature at about 20' tall, planted in 1996. The remaining are about 8-9' tall with a few approaching 12' and these were planted 4 years ago. All of them are healthy with the exception of the mature ones growing wild and getting too big for their place. None have ever been trimmed with the exception of dead or broken branches. Early on I did inquire about trimming them and was told don't bother...something I now regret!

Here's a few questions for starters...

1) I removed about 20-25 cubic yards of dead needles from under the mature ones. The debris was about 6-8"+ deep and as a result a number of the lower branches were buried. Some even rooted themselves. I freed up what I could by clipping, but there are still some that remain partially buried. By that I mean the branch is exposed now but still firmly rooted underneath it. Some even re-sprouted about a foot away from where it entered the ground. Looks like a mini propagation farm under there! Should I leave as be or cut the branch or?

2) Pros & cons with cutting the tops of the mature ones about 2-3'. The purpose being to open the canopy to sunlight as well as even the tops out. My goal, understanding that it will take a few years, is to cut back the base growth from it's current width of about 6-8' back to 4-6'. Yes the insides of these mature ones are bare due to no sunlight and air flow. So that limits my cutting back right now.

3) Right now my approach to thinning is cutting the vertical growth and oddball branches with excessive growth. I'm also taking a stab at shaping them and leaving selective 'holes' for sunlight to get to the insides....but that's not as easy as it appears:confused2: Any tips or tricks of the trade for this procedure would be GREATLY appreciated!

Here's a few pics of what these trees look like prior to starting. You might say they look great but trust me, up close they need help. I'm confident I'll get it done one way or another. I'm down to my last day of vacation...been off the last week...so I'm out the door and back at it after I post this. I'll check back in later.

Thanks in advance for any info or links etc that might assist me.

I wish that was our hedge.

 

[jimmyj]

Don't take off too much and make sure they are wider at the bottom than at the top. Just a bit, the leggy bits like you have said already.

 

[s219]

I do know what you mean about dead needles -- they can really build up under a large arborvitae. I remember to clear ours out every couple years, and the amount of dead needles I shake/rake out is mind boggling. You have to wonder if the tree is adapted to that somehow.

They are nice trees. I have never attempted to trim or prune them back, but would caution not to remove more than about 15% of the tree. Find out when the best time is. Myself, I would not attempt any pruning this time of year where I live.

Good luck!

 

[BeezFun]

Those look like Thuja arborvitae, especially if they've grown that large. If so I have the same trees around my property, I talked to the place we buy them from and they said you can trim anytime. I have the hedge in front of our house trimmed down to 4' so we can see over it. The others have been left untrimmed and are probably as tall as yours. I found that when you trim they do turn brown, often times beyond the region where you pruned. But they recover and green back up and begin growing like weeds pretty quick. My experience with other evergreens is to only prune when they're dormant, I guess to be safe I'd recommend that unless you're really sure what species they are. I also have some along a lane that I use a hedgeclipper on to keep the width down. They take trimming very well and happily grow right back so you never run out of things to do.

 

[tractorshopper]

Sorry, no expertise here. I just wanted to chime in and say that you have one beautiful lawn and border. Wow.

 

[Pixguy]

I have had Aborvitaes in southern New England as well and I was able to trim the leaders off which in turn made them fuller. I though it was better to trim in the fall, but this advise is worth what you paid for it.

There was a house down the road that had 12'ers and he butchered them to down around 6' to where there was just a small amount of branches. I thought he killed them but lo and behold they grew back in just a few years.

Nice lawn as well.:drink:

 

[clemsonfor]

Generic pruining advice is to prune when dormant and never remove more than a third of the trees living branches.

That said im a forester not an arborist. But the third rule is a major one.

 

[pilot-werx]

No clue about plants but what a beautiful yard!

 

[TCBoomer]

Tried to access TBN last night and all I got was a white screen with the TBN logo and 2 inactive links in the upper right corner...HOME & FORUMS. No idea why. Works fine now:thumbsup:


Thanks for the compliments guys. Lots of work to install and maintain a lawn like I have. Took years to get it where it is, never mind the $$$. Now if I only knew as much about pruning these Arbs as I do about lawns I'd be in 7th heaven

Some day I will though!!

 

[TCBoomer]

Those look like Thuja arborvitae, especially if they've grown that large. If so I have the same trees around my property, I talked to the place we buy them from and they said you can trim anytime. I have the hedge in front of our house trimmed down to 4' so we can see over it. The others have been left untrimmed and are probably as tall as yours. I found that when you trim they do turn brown, often times beyond the region where you pruned. But they recover and green back up and begin growing like weeds pretty quick.

You are correct, they are of the Thuja variety. Locally they are also called American Arborvitae.

Tell me more about them turning brown after trimming. How quick to recover? Since I'm only pruning at this point...just cutting selective branches and vertical shoots...I'm curious if mine will turn brown? No signs of brown yet and I started a week ago. From what I understand, if I shear them, then I should expect the brown.

Thanks

 

[TCBoomer]

I have had Aborvitaes in southern New England as well and I was able to trim the leaders off which in turn made them fuller. I though it was better to trim in the fall, but this advise is worth what you paid for it.

How much did you cut off the leader on yours? If I cut mine, will they (somewhat)recover this year or should I expect to wait until next year to notice it? I ask because someone told me to cut 4' off the leader(only the 20' ers) and then thin out the upper branches as needed. I'm thinking more like 2-3'.

From what I've found researching, it's all over the map as to when is the best time to prune. And I've seen local folks trim theirs year round. Was there a specific reason you prefer fall? I thought fall was too late as there wasn't enough time for the cut to heal prior to winter...read it in the internet so it must be true:laughing:

I am aware of limiting the total cuts to a max of 1/3 in one year. If anything I'm certain I'm not even close to that. First time around I'm a little hesitant about it all. A pro would probably laugh and tell me I'm not cutting enough and then proceed to show me by whacking away

 

[Pixguy]

How much did you cut off the leader on yours? If I cut mine, will they (somewhat)recover this year or should I expect to wait until next year to notice it? I ask because someone told me to cut 4' off the leader(only the 20' ers) and then thin out the upper branches as needed. I'm thinking more like 2-3'.

I only cut off about 1' because I did it when they reached the height I was looking for and just wanted to fatten them up, but I didn't notice any new growth til about 6mo. and widening 2yrs. later. I would agree with you 2-3' would be all that I would do at one time.

From what I've found researching, it's all over the map as to when is the best time to prune. And I've seen local folks trim theirs year round. Was there a specific reason you prefer fall? I thought fall was too late as there wasn't enough time for the cut to heal prior to winter...read it in the internet so it must be true:laughing:

I chose the fall when the temps were lower but well before frost, like late Sept. so it was not shocked with the cold temps.

I am aware of limiting the total cuts to a max of 1/3 in one year. If anything I'm certain I'm not even close to that. First time around I'm a little hesitant about it all. A pro would probably laugh and tell me I'm not cutting enough and then proceed to show me by whacking away

They'll be fine, I've had deer chomp one side off and it still recovered well. Of course they will split with heavy snow or ice. Good Luck

 

[TCBoomer]

They'll be fine, I've had deer chomp one side off and it still recovered well. Of course they will split with heavy snow or ice. Good Luck

I count my blessings because I've never had any deer munch them in 16 yrs and they are around. I've even seen them run past within 50' and keep on going. No idea why, but was told dog scent, plenty of other food or the placement of the trees would make them feel trapped...or all of above.

thanks for the info as I'm interested in knowing as much as I can find out.

 

[Pixguy]

Tried to access TBN last night and all I got was a white screen with the TBN logo and 2 inactive links in the upper right corner...HOME & FORUMS. No idea why. Works fine now:thumbsup:
QUOTE]

It's been happening for awhile and htey are working on it, but it is frustrating at times.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I have had to trim or remove those things because they get too big and take over an area. What I had to do was use an 3 legged ladder and use a small chainsaw to shave off the tops to a consistent height. It does look a little sparse up there for a bit. To trim the sides again a chainsaw. That would be a huge task in your case. If you get ice and snow build up they tend to break when they get too large. Or die off and leave a big dead plant in the middle of your hedge.
I know what you mean about them rooting themselves in the ground. What I did there was saw them off close to the trunk. Again a whole lot of work for your project. I have trimmed them at any part of the year and had them recover. They do recover faster in the spring. By the way bee's and birds love nesting in them. As others said don't take more than a third at a time. Some of the people that I have worked for were just so tired of cleaning up after them they had me cut down entire hedges and went with something else.
Good luck and be safe.

 

[BeezFun]

Tell me more about them turning brown after trimming. How quick to recover? Since I'm only pruning at this point...just cutting selective branches and vertical shoots...I'm curious if mine will turn brown? No signs of brown yet and I started a week ago. From what I understand, if I shear them, then I should expect the brown.
Thanks

They turn brown more when pruning than when cutting a leader way back. The browning looks just like what happens after a cold winter with a lot of wind: the tips of all the growth turn brown and die, but then it regreens and the brown goes away. It takes quite awhile for them to turn brown, I didn't pay close attention but it was at least a month. I got very nervous the first time that I had damaged them, but it all turned out fine. I let them grow too tall before I started to maintain the 4' height, so I had to use a hand pruner to get through some of the branches. Now that they're trained back I can use a hedge clipper to keep them lower. They really are like giant green weeds, very hard to kill and they always grow back. We had a horse that liked to rub her stomach on one and she wore it right down to the ground. It's now 20' tall again after we roped it off.

 

[clemsonfor]

Tried to access TBN last night and all I got was a white screen with the TBN logo and 2 inactive links in the upper right corner...HOME & FORUMS. No idea why. Works fine now:thumbsup:


Thanks for the compliments guys. Lots of work to install and maintain a lawn like I have. Took years to get it where it is, never mind the $$$. Now if I only knew as much about pruning these Arbs as I do about lawns I'd be in 7th heaven

Some day I will though!!

My links when that happens are in the upper left?? Seems like we all see things sometimes a bit different. Some one said their colors are all wacked and there is links all over the normal screen??

 

[KubotainNH]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Lots of work to install and maintain a lawn like I have. Took years to get it where it is, never mind the $$$. Now if I only knew as much about pruning these Arbs as I do about lawns I'd be in 7th heaven

The lawn is amazing. i'd love mine to be like that but with someone else spending the time and $$ on it.. :laughing:

As for the Arbs, I have some of these similar in size growing on each side of my driveway. They are way overdue for a trimming, the cars brush against the branches at times. This thread answered some of my questions. Thanks! :thumbsup: