Can this be salvaged?

m_ali1986

Good afternoon,

I am new to gardening. The issue is I haven't got any experience prior to moving into my current property. I have put a pic up of an evergreen that was really overgrown. I tried to shape it, but the branches were thick so I used a pruner chainsaw. As you can see in the pics, a lot of the tree is bare wood and looks unsightly, and leaves aren't growing. It has been over 3 months since I cut it. 

My question do you thibk I can prune this in a way where it looks decent to the eye, and wil the leaves come back? If there is a special feed for it I will be happy to purchase it, I just need to know what to do really.

Thank you very much in advance.

nutcutlet

no, that will never be any good. Conifers don't recover from that. 
they often get planted where there isn't room then get hacked like that so you can get in the gate

Fairygirl

It's knackered now, sorry. Conifers don't grow back once you cut into the old wood. Better removed and replaced with something else now.

Only other alternative is to clear it right back to the trunk and 'lollipop' it, but they usually look hideous if you do that.

JennyJ

Most conifers don't grow new leaves if you cut back to brown wood. The best thing to do with that would be to take it out, improve the soil and plant something that won't outgrow the space.

If you really want to keep it, you could try cutting back all the lower branches (all the way round) back to the main trunk so you would have a bare length of trunk.  Not ideal by any means, but better than how it looks now.

m_ali1986

Hi guys. Thank you so much for your replies. It is a shame but I think I'm going to get rid of it. I'd imagine the roots will be a nightmare. Do you think a tiller will help?

Obelixx

Conifer roots rot failry easly in my experience.  Cut off th etop leaving a 2 or 3'/60 to 90cm stump and remove some of the lower side stems so you can then manhandle and wiggle the stump.   Once all the green parts are removed the stump and roots will soon start to weaken and should be easy to remove tho it may take a bit of patience and an axe for the thicker ones.

Don't try using a tiller.  You'll knacker either the engine of the blades or both.

m_ali1986

I can't thank you all enough. You have all been very helpful. Thank you.

JennyJ

Come back and tell us how you get on, and what you decide to put there instead.  We love a makeover

m_ali1986

JennyJ said:

Come back and tell us how you get on, and what you decide to put there instead.  We love a makeover

I definitely will 

I'm open to suggestions. It does get really windy in the front garden.

My plan is to give that whole area a makeover so it literally is a blank canvas.

A J2

To clear out a conifer root isn't easy. You'll need to dig out the soil around the trunk to a depth where the roots become thinner in diameter, about half a meter. Then dig a circumference of another half a meter, away from the stump, exposing the root runners. Then get a very sharp axe and start cutting the roots as far away from the trunk. Get a crow bar or something similar in strength and prise under the roots to weaken the smaller roots and snap them away from the trunk. After about 2 hours, the root ball should then come out. Good luck. 

m_ali1986

A J2 said:

To clear out a conifer root isn't easy. You'll need to dig out the soil around the trunk to a depth where the roots become thinner in diameter, about half a meter. Then dig a circumference of another half a meter, away from the stump, exposing the root runners. Then get a very sharp axe and start cutting the roots as far away from the trunk. Get a crow bar or something similar in strength and prise under the roots to weaken the smaller roots and snap them away from the trunk. After about 2 hours, the root ball should then come out. Good luck. 

Thank you for the advice.

Is there a chance that some roots are in my neighbours drive? He used to have a nice green garden but poured concrete over the lot.... If so could I be damaging his side?

Thank you.