Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Conifer in wrong position.

Peter553Peter553 Posts: 100
in Problem solving
The conifer in attached photo is in the wrong position. Would it be a mistake to take this down by half my brother is asking or best to remove altogether. Has anyone had a similar issue. Peter
«1

Posts

  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Apart from northerly forests, IMHO all conifers are in the wrong position!  But that's just me.
  • Peter553Peter553 Posts: 100
    Thanks. Agree I think this maybe worth a try to see if we can reduce and hopefully rescue it some way -depending on how it looks after haircut 😛 If not we can always remove. Many thanks
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you’re going to reduce its height and then still bring the top to a taper you’ll need to cut the trunk about 8” lower than the wished for height, and then tie the ‘fronds’ in so they form the desired shape with green plastic covered wire. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    I think conifers sometimes can look better without being shaped in a cone. My parents cut a row of these type of conifer down by half, leaving an open shape that looks much better than I expected. The remaining branches on theirs grow up on the outside so the cut stump is not visible.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The problem is - if you cut too far - it doesn't grow back, so try a few gentle cuts first and see. To keep their natural shape  [which is what that is ] you have to trim regularly form the word go.
    I'd be inclined to take it out, and see it as an opportunity to plant something else. Not because I dislike conifers, but because that isn't in the best site, and it's going to be hard to get it right. 

    I see them everywhere here - usually a few feet from the front windows, because people buy them when they're eighteen inches high, and they look 'cute'. They take a long while to get to any size, then suddenly, they wonder why they're sitting in their front rooms with the lights on all day ... ;)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    It does look out of place there. I'm usually ridiculously merciful, but I can't see anything you can do to make the conifer right. I vote for the chop too.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Peter553Peter553 Posts: 100
    Many thanks to all for great feedback . I’m sure you’ll agree if you buy a house with garden there’s nothing much you can do about what is planted. Plenty of options to go with thanks again.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Thing is, when you  buy a house you decorate and furnish the rooms to your taste, needs and budget.   Same with the garden.  Live with what you have till you decide what you need, want and have to let go.

    Trying to make it a smaller conifer of the same shape will reveal too much brown wood that will not regenerate and it will just look awful - even worse than it does now.  Cut it down leaving enough of a stump for your to wiggle back and forth so you can then remove as much of the roots as possible.  

    Once it's out, refresh the soil with some well-rotted garden compost and/or manure and then plant something interesting and attractive and better suited to the position.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Peter553Peter553 Posts: 100
    Appreciate feed back thanks 😊 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Let us know what you do and how you get on.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
Sign In or Register to comment.