Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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No surprise I know nothing about gardening, so any advice welcome please! I recently moved into a house with a beautiful established garden, but the previous owners had let it grow wild for a few years. I hired a reputable local tree maintenance guy to cut back a line of conifers and laurels, but on the day his team seemed to cut back much more than I was expecting and now there are large gaps where the foliage used to join up to create a solid 'screen'. I'm wondering if I'm overreacting and the trees will start to fill out again quickly? But I worry looking at them (it's about a month later now) and Im noticing brown patches, which are small but on all the trees. A quick Google has made me panic that the conifers will not now grow back. Could anyone give me an idea of what I can expect now? Could the brown patches spread and the whole tree die? Or can I hope that they will eventually fill back out to provide the healthy border that they used to. Sorry for my complete lack of knowledge! Thank you for your help.
No surprise I know nothing about gardening, so any advice welcome please! I recently moved into a house with a beautiful established garden, but the previous owners had let it grow wild for a few years. I hired a reputable local tree maintenance guy to cut back a line of conifers and laurels, but on the day his team seemed to cut back much more than I was expecting and now there are large gaps where the foliage used to join up to create a solid 'screen'. I'm wondering if I'm overreacting and the trees will start to fill out again quickly? But I worry looking at them (it's about a month later now) and Im noticing brown patches, which are small but on all the trees. A quick Google has made me panic that the conifers will not now grow back. Could anyone give me an idea of what I can expect now? Could the brown patches spread and the whole tree die? Or can I hope that they will eventually fill back out to provide the healthy border that they used to. Sorry for my complete lack of knowledge! Thank you for your help.
Hi thanks for your reply. Here is a photo. Before the cut back you couldn't see any of the fencing/walls behind the trees, it was just a wall of green and no brown patches at all. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi thanks for your reply. Here is a photo. Before the cut back you couldn't see any of the fencing/walls behind the trees, it was just a wall of green and no brown patches at all. Thanks for your thoughts.
This is the other end of the border, which they cut back less aggressively and looks more how I had expected it would. But still brown patches, I'm not sure whether these are just temporary?
This is the other end of the border, which they cut back less aggressively and looks more how I had expected it would. But still brown patches, I'm not sure whether these are just temporary?
Hmm, it doesn't look too bad. I've seen far worse butcherings, though the blobby shape of such shrubs always makes me look a bit sad. I always think they look nicer in a more natural shape with a more relaxed prune, but I can appreciate why some landscapers and 'tree surgeons' just end up creating egg shapes. Lack of training and knowledge of trees in general, sadly.
I think they'll recover as they've not cut into old wood, from what I can see. Those brown bits may be a bit of conifer fungus or where those branches have been nipped ie damaged.
As for the coverage of the fence, it maybe worth while considering filling in the gaps between the hedges with some other shrubs to fill it out a bit!
Give it a few months and let us know how you get on!
Hmm, it doesn't look too bad. I've seen far worse butcherings, though the blobby shape of such shrubs always makes me look a bit sad. I always think they look nicer in a more natural shape with a more relaxed prune, but I can appreciate why some landscapers and 'tree surgeons' just end up creating egg shapes. Lack of training and knowledge of trees in general, sadly.
I think they'll recover as they've not cut into old wood, from what I can see. Those brown bits may be a bit of conifer fungus or where those branches have been nipped ie damaged.
As for the coverage of the fence, it maybe worth while considering filling in the gaps between the hedges with some other shrubs to fill it out a bit!
Give it a few months and let us know how you get on!
That's a relief to hear! I read on the internet about 'old wood' and panicked because I had no benchmark for what that would look like. But now I know they are still healthy, as you say I will plant some shrubs to fill it out. I'll pop back with pictures when it's starting to look a bit better.
Thanks so much for your time!
That's a relief to hear! I read on the internet about 'old wood' and panicked because I had no benchmark for what that would look like. But now I know they are still healthy, as you say I will plant some shrubs to fill it out. I'll pop back with pictures when it's starting to look a bit better.
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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