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Tree Regrowth - Cowboy Tree Surgeons

matthewtbowlesmatthewtbowles Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hello

I have what I think is some sort of large Cypress tree in my garden. I think it is a Lawsons Cypress but cannot be sure.

it was recently trimmed by some ‘tree surgeons’ who have cut it back very very hard far beyond anything I expected.

My understanding is that once you cut back to ‘brown’ it will never regrow but I have been assured that within a year the top will bush out as there is nothing competing with it… Is this correct and it will again be a ‘tree’ or am I stuck with this unsightly collection of cut branches.

I have a suspicion that I have been conned by some cowboys with chainsaws rather than a skilled knowledgeable tree surgeon.

I attach some photos. Can anyone advise please?


Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    If it is Lawsons cypress [ I can't tell ] it will not grow back from that butchery.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I think it can be a leyland cypress or a chamaecyparis lawsoniana.   

    Either way it's one of the conifers and they do not regrow from brown wood so you are now left with those skeletons and need to decide what to do about them.     

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/leylandii/pruning-guide 
    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
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    The only conifer that would regrow that l know of is thuja plicata, and that isn't your tree l'm afraid. 
    I think you have 2 options, one is to get professional tree surgeons in to tidy up as best they can, or take the drastic step of having it removed altogether. A possible planting opportunity and more light. 
    It does depend upon what view it's obscuring of course. 
  • Wild_VioletWild_Violet Posts: 221
    My neighbour had my leylandii  hedge butchered in this manner (without my consent (or even a word)) when I was at work one day) and although some of the surviving branches grew over time to hide some of the brown wood, it never really recovered and I ended up taking a large section -  about 6 metres - of the hedge out.  Put up a 2m fence that wasn’t tall enough to regain my privacy so have since replanted a thuja screening hedge about 1.5m in from the boundary fence. 
    I doubt your tree will fully recover from this and as has been said, there are alternatives that would look nicer or be more wildlife friendly. I’m sorry your tree surgeons were cowboys - it’s all too common now.  
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    Depending on the instructions you gave them, hopefully in writing, surely a suitable note to Trading Standards or a local paper would be in order?  'Value for Money'?


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited June 2022
    Oh s**t  :/
    Have you got any way of holding them to account @matthewtbowles? That will never recover and be attractive in any way. I think that could be the worst case I've ever seen.

    If they use social meedja in any way - that can sometimes be the best, and only, way to get attention - and at least warn others to avoid like the plague. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Looking at it in pictures 3 and 4,  I don’t think it’s that bad,  that was a very large tree for a housing estate,  we have one here similar,   The electric cables were running through the tree and they said the top had to come off, looked horrible for a while but the bottom growth soon grew up and covered it.
    They have at least, cut yours properly,  cut the branches on angles,  I've seen some that just been cut straight across.
    They're  not pretty trees,  perhaps a good time to plant something nice. 


    This is ours now, the one to the right of the statue, lost its point but still serviceable for bird nesting. It did look like yours at the time.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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