Pruning a Cedar Shrub....HELP

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
When we rebuilt our house, the local law says we have to have some green space, so we put these shrubs in, I think they are called "Pyramid Cedars" or maybe they are "Thuja Occidentalis Smaragd" I'm not really sure.

Anyhow the darn things are growing like bad weeds :D

shrubs01.jpg shrubs02.jpg shrubs03.jpg

There were originally 6 trees, but I took two out a while back, as there was not enough room. I also built the steel frame to hold them up, the "Genius" architect left the "pot" that he trees stand in only 8" deep :doh:Dunno how he thought the trees would be able to stand up in that short pot very well.

I really need to cut these suckers back, a LOT, they are now getting blown around by the wind badly, and sometimes the branches kind of stick out there into the sidewalk area, the local municipal busybodies say they have received complaints :rolleyes: I guess with the sidewalk only being about 8' wide, some people cannot navigate past the shrubs without scratching themselves.

Removal is NOT an option, the same municipal busybodies check to make sure we still have our "Green Space", if we removed it, we would face stiff monthly fines :bang:

How do I trim these things?

I'm thinking of taking one or two out, to give the two largest ones a bit more room to grow.

Other wise, I guess I have to trim them back a bit, but the last time I did that, they looked bad for about six months.......

Any help and or some links to somewhere with some pics and explanations would be great.

Cheers!
 
If they are red cedars, related to junipers, they are pretty much 'weeds'. We have a lot of those growing in the Ozarks. I'm no plant expert but I suspect severe trimming will not harm them. Hack away.
 
I don't suppose you could rip them all out and put in pansies.:huh: Sure would allow more natural light into the window hiding behind the shrubs.
 
I've had similar evergreens, and as Frank said, you can trim them pretty heavily. The only problem is if they get too big, a heavy trimming will remove all the greenery, leaving a ball of bare branches for the local plant police to moan about.

I'm with Rennie...I'd swap them out with easily-replaced color plants if possible.
 
i too have them stu and you can trim alot buthtose are to p[oint where your further ahead to replace, with differnt variety of greenery.. chk with your local officails and ask then what they suggest???? they look like pyrmidal arbovitae.. and are from a differnt family than the trees frank is refering to.
 
Stu,
What about removing them, and (immediately) replanting with something like Italian Cypress? The Italian Cypress tend to grow straight up, and are only maybe three feet in diameter when they're ten or twelve feet tall. You see a lot of them in California. Don't know if they're available in Japan, though.

Another possibility would be an arborvitae variant. Some of them grow upright and slowly, and they're much more readily pruned than junipers or cypress, without the ugly brown interior showing.
 
Stu,

You can trim them, but they will look like heck, until they grow back, at which point it will be time to trim them again. ;)

What made you choose those? Do they *need* to be evergreens? Most quick growing evergreens are going to give you the same problem.

I'm not familiar enough with the climate there to make recommendations. Are they facing south? How much direct sun do they get? What's your average winter minimum temperature?

Frankly, you might be better off with one of the smaller bamboos. At least you could trim those to size, and only have to worry about containing growth once a year...

Thanks,

Bill
 
looking for tokyo gardening links:

http://balconyofdreams.blogspot.com/2007/01/tokyo-architects-balcony-garden.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...0A2575BC0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

http://www.rothteien.com/topics/plants.htm

The more I look, the more my first guesses are confirmed: your best choices for something that will look good (and not like a shorn sheep most of the time... ;) seem to be bamboo, ornamental maples, camellias, rhododendrons, and some of the near-evergreen azaleas. All of those need at least some sun, although some of the camellias and rhododendrons can stand significant shade and still look good, even if flowering might be reduced. Over the long haul, it's probably worth thinking about changing them out... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
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I'll look at replacing them. I do like that idea :thumb:

I had nothing to do with picking them, when the time came to pick them, I was laid up in the hospital with the first leg infection, Summer of 2001 :rolleyes:

The exposure is a Southern exposure, they get good sunlight all day, the temps here rarely go below freezing, and it's hot and humid in the summer.

Bamboo is messy, I'd not want them, they need to be cleaned up all the time or they look poorly, maybe some other kind of evergreen.

I'll have to have one more go at pruning these ones before we head to Canada for the summer vacation.

Cheers!
 
Me thinks you have a problem that has gotten ahead of you. You cannot trim past the green and expect it to replace the green, It will not sprout from "deadwood" so you have to take it in stages and prune close but not to the depth of the edge of green. It will thicken from there and in several months you can crop back a little further. and perhaps you can crop it back to the size you want. BUT if you should shape it to your desired size and it is beyond the green you will expose the brown center and it will remain exposed. They will not grow from within.

Think about this. Let them go a little longer, save those gardening dollars to buy new, then when they are as big as you can stand, yank them from the earth, clean up the root ball and do some handsome turning, while the new trees are taking root in the holes left by the old. Then start a regular gentile pruning that will keep thgem inside their boundries whilst you enjoy some quite colorful and fragrent woods to turn.
 
I had a chat with my lovely wife, I think we will replace them :D

That's the best plan. Find something you like and will NATURALLY fit into the space available. If the planting is naturally to large you will always be fighting nature. It's much more work fighting nature! Think Bonsai vs. tree in the woods :thumb: What you have now is a large form of Bonsai :eek:

It's hard to judge from the pics but if that space is 8 ft. tall get plants that will max out at about 6 ft. with a columnar form. Pick the right plants and you won't need to prune (I'm assuming you are not into a lot of upkeep for this space).

You might look into an Arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis or Thuja orientalis) for a similar look.

Take your photo to a GOOD nursery and I'm sure they will have other suggestions.
 
Hi Stu.

As far as I know you can prune them quite heavily without worring too much.
This species will sprout again even from the brown part, even better from the trunk itself (I've done it) it will take a while thoug, it only needs time and light exposure.

If this heavy pruning is made with intention you can always tell the law guys that you're are trying to make Niwaki, I do not think that they would complaint about that would they?

You can find a lot of books there about Niwaki, it is not so difficult, and it will solve the problem.

The only drawback is the time they will look bad but nature needs its time and trees under Niwaki treatment do not look so bad.

Why don't you ask for advice to the gardener of the local shrine were you take your wood dust and shavings?
 
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