Have I ruined my conifers ?
claire 28
Posts: 2
Hi, I recently moved into my house and thought the conifers were way too high. So when the sun was out this weekend I got out my saw, but unfortunately I got a bit saw happy! the conifers are now mostly brown now as I thought by cutting into them they would grow back green but after reading some of the other threads I may have been mistaken ? Have I completely ruined the conifers or is there a chance they will grow back? i am new to gardening so sorry if this is stupid question! Thanks for your help 
0
Posts
Not a stupid question, there are no stupid questions.
But sorry, I fear you've done for the one on the left for sure, can't see the others so clearly.
But tell yourself there are much nicer plants to be had, get rid of those and off to the garden centre.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Frankly they are better gone. They were out of scale and just wrong. Rest easy, you have done the right thing.
Hi Claire, I'm afraid I agree with the others - cutting into hard wood with conifers means they won't regenerate at all. It would probably be best to remove them now - they'll stay brown. Enrich the soil with garden compost/well rotted manure/fish, blood, bone & think of it is as a new planting opportunity. We can give with ideas if you are after a form of hedging or security.
Last edited: 12 April 2017 08:24:54
Thank you for your help. what would be the best way to remove them ? to dig the roots out completely ? My soil is very clayey and the grass in the garden is patchy all over. I wondered if the conifers were taking all the nutrients out of the ground as there are 5 of those conifers ok the other side too but thankfully there werent sky high ! Yes I would appreciate some ideas about the hedging please. A bit further away from those conifers are some other big green bushes (I don't know what they are called they are in the pic). I'm not sure if I should cut them back as one of them is very close to the house But Im worried about cutting it too far back and ruining them as well
Before you do anything establish what they are!
Hello Claire, I had to remove a fence line of conifers like yours at my old place. Fortunately they are quite shallow rooted. I cut mine down to about 4 ft or so then used the remaining part of the trunk as a lever to pull and push on. It was surprisingly straightforward to get them out, in part because, as you say, they strip the soil of nutrients and it is just dry, lose soil.