Anyone know how to prune a too tall cedar/Arborvitae?

sixdogs · Jan 11, 2015

s219 said:
How much are you going to cut off the top? At our old house, some Leyland cypresses got too tall next to the house, so I lopped off about 3' from a 20' tree. Kept repeating every 1-2 years to keep it in check. With such a tall tree, we didn't really notice the difference. Eventually took the trees out and replaced with something smaller and tidier when we sold the house. But in those previous years, the trees did OK.

They are 8 ft tall and I'm thinking of taking off 3 ft. BUT, I have been reading thread to wife and, at the moment she wants to cut them down. That could change, however.

arrow said:
Go to a local Christmas tree farm and see if you can pick up any tips on how they prune their conifers.

Conifers are different from cedars in that evergreens have one central leader. Cedars can have a whole bunch and you should restrict to three leaders.

Xfaxman · Jan 12, 2015

This is what I used to prune the indigenous Cedars on my 80 acres.

If pruned at ground level, they don't ever need pruning again! :laughing:

sixdogs · Jan 12, 2015

Xfaxman said:
This is what I used to prune the indigenous Cedars on my 80 acres.
View attachment 406471 View attachment 406472
If pruned at ground level, they don't ever need pruning again! :laughing:

That is a neat tool and I'll bet you get a lot of use out of it.
Wife has given me the go-ahead to cut down the offending cedars. That could change but she seems pretty firm on it.

Xfaxman · Jan 12, 2015

sixdogs said:
That is a neat tool and I'll bet you get a lot of use out of it.
Wife has given me the go-ahead to cut down the offending cedars. That could change but she seems pretty firm on it.

Yep, it cut a lot of cedars on the back of the MF 240D, pictures from June 2009.

Used the TORO+Loader to load them on a 16' deckover and haul to a burn pile.

Unloaded it and added to the burn pile.

In January of 2011, I made a SSQA to 3 point hitch adapter to use the cutter on the V417.

Used a pallet fork frame and added linkage and chain so that the cutter would always set flat on the ground no matter what angle the V417 was leaning.

Unfortunately, one of the blades broke.
Now I have a tree puller: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/277824-tree-puller.html#post3444397

sixdogs · Jan 12, 2015

Impressive amount of work.

Pixguy · Jan 12, 2015

I've cut mine to the height of 6' for years. Sure they won't look good if I let them get taller but that's not what we want.

They also get fatter as they get older, just like many of us.

arrow · Jan 12, 2015

Xfaxman said:
Yep, it cut a lot of cedars on the back of the MF 240D, pictures from June 2009.

For just lopping off the top of the trees X, your cedars look pretty good to me.

SandburRanch · Jan 12, 2015

I have so many Eastern Red Cedars to choose from they get replaced when approaching 5' and become more of an aggravation to keep shaped as a shrub. Besides, they aren't even recommended near a building in my area because of wild fires.

In my opinion Mrs. sixdogs, you're right, replace them.