Bough a fixer upper and the yard is a fixer upper too. This covers half the walkway. Can I trim? Do I have to pull it out?
by iokayatreddit
Bough a fixer upper and the yard is a fixer upper too. This covers half the walkway. Can I trim? Do I have to pull it out?
by iokayatreddit
27 Comments
It’s over. Rip it and start fresh. You’ll probably find this is gonna be a trend on your property.
Most of those coniferous evergreens can’t do heavy pruning. Best case scenario it looks terrible, worst it dies.
You can trim it way down. Don’t worry about going too short, it’ll fill back out pretty fast. Until then, it might look a little goofy, but at least you’ll be able to use the walk way.
Unlike the post from yesterday, this one will not take well to a hard pruning/renovation. Rip out and replace
You can trim but it will look pretty ugly. I personally think it’s outgrown the space and the long term solution should be removal.
Pull it out. There’s no fixing that.
Just tear the whole thing out.
Take it from a guy who just ripped two evergreen shrubs out last weekend….. rip them out.
I can pretty much guarantee you that once you cut back a couple inches of growths it will be dry and brown underneath. It won’t grow back from there sadly.
It’s lived its life, it had its time, and now it’s time to go.
You might as well try pruning/shearing it back and see how it looks and if it bounces back at all. Worst case is you waste.an hour on the work and a season with it looking goofy. If it doesn’t work out, you’re in the same spot looking to remove it entirely
She gotta go. I just did a similar thing at my house. It looks so much better
Relocation.
Cut it back about to a foot away from away from the sidewalk and then pick it up the rest of the way around to match, hopefully achieving a bonsai effect.
Get a consult for your property by a certified arborist to develop a plan for that bush and other trees on the property.
It is not too expensive and will give you a great overall view of your new property.
We had one like that. If you cut it back then the sides will just show stems. We ripped it out with a chain and a truck. It was the only solution. Good luck.
I’d try to bonsai it into something cool, but on the most likely chance that doesn’t pan out it would be getting removed anyway.
If you could travel back in time about 10 years you can save it.
You might trim it but an evergreen is going to look awful when trimmed, so the best approach is to have it removed. Either keep trimming it gradually until you can dig up what’s left which is what I’d do over a few weeks or even months — or have a crew come in and pay them to remove it. Then plant something less enormous.
Move sidewalk.
See if you can give it away! Someone may have use for such a mature specimen- contact local nurseries, garden clubs, Extension Agent, State Uni teaching Ag/ horticulture. Best to get it gone & replace.
Get rid of it.
Politely ask it to move, or else
I’d start by removing the bottom 18”. It will expose the trunks and give you a better idea of which branches can go over the sidewalk. Then prune into more of a bonsai shape vs a round bush shape.
https://preview.redd.it/9whsfz8ejtxg1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d1f29e60fa1ca97c226dbab0ff0ab04c2725464
Try pruning it well off the pavement and see what happens. See how it looks. Maybe give it a little bonsai effect. You can always rip it out afterwards if it doesn’t look good.
Transplant it!
Trim it into a niwaki, garden bonsai, it’s a nice plant and would be a shame to waste it.
Rip it out, start over. I had the same issue. Wrapped a tow rope around the base and connected it to my truck, came right up. Filled in the hole with soil and wife and I are debating what to plant there now.
I would rip it out, but if you don’t believe the vocal majority, trim it back 6” or more from the sidewalk. You will then hate it and rip it out as the next step.
This sidewalk user thanks you!