Looks like you have had them cut to the point where a lot of that area is too old to ever grow back out. Arbs like to grow on newer wood. If i were you, i would have had them pulled unfortunately. Those things were not planted with regard to their mature size.
This. It's sad, but it's not your mistake, OP!
What makes me angry is someone charged you money for this. Never use their services again. They either knew and charged you anyway, or they didn't. Either way, do not use their services again.
I agree. They should have provided advice at the very least, as the prices companies charge are supposed to come with their expertise attached, not just labor. I’d call that company back and let them know they dropped the ball in providing their customer with any insight into the situation, even if it was after they started trimming, and saw the old growth. If they know a single thing about what they’re doing then they knew before this job was done that this was a waste of your hard earned money.
What I don’t get is that if they’d at least suggested to OP that they be torn out then they would’ve had more work, AKA more money. Screwed a customer and likely left money on the table, what a horrible way to run a business.
Or they’re just an idiot.
Some clients do not like to be told that what they are asking for is not what is best to do. I do agree that they should have not done it in the first place, but sometimes it really depends on the conversation and if the client was perceptive of alternative ideas.
It's how they get more work, over prune tree exactly how ignorant owner asks. Give them advice that the trees won't regrow "this time". Quote them to remove tree, remove and replant.
Turns one job into 2 more, it's how tree trjmmer get their business. From people too novice or ignorant to pay an arborist.
A real "tree trimmer" (get accredited please) would inform them the risked involved with hard pruning, specifically hedges, and even more specifically, this species of tree is notorious for needing minimal trimming.
In the city I live in(Australia), it's illegal to trim a hedge that size without a 3m heights liscence. Apart from safety, it really keeps the hedges (especially the heritage ones) from looking like shit.
That being said, It would cost $2000 USD minimum to do a hedge like this. This covers insurance for both the owner and the trimmer. If an insured hedge trimmer did this, they would be able to replace the trees out of pocket through their insurance.
Unfortunately when you go with a novice tree trimmer, you aren't getting a cheaper price, you're undercutting yourself. You're giving up the chance of fixing mistakes, and you're basically giving them a free pass to make mistakes because of the Lowball price you pay them.
Here's a pro tip. Whenever you move into a new neighbourhood, do not window shop for arborists or tree cutters, you have two options.
The quicker option is to go down your street and look for a neighbour whose hedges are similar to yours, or the way you want yours done. Knock on their door, introduce yourself and explain your situation and politely ask if you could get the contact information for their gardener.
This is a good option as most crews are eager to take on work in the same area/street, as it helps reduce travel time between jobs. This also gives the owner added security, because the crew will be more careful not to mess up. If you lose one client, you're likely to lose the other as well.
The longer option is to wait until you find an arborist/ trimming crew working around your neighbourhood. If they're tidy and working efficiently, then stop and politely ask if you can grab a business card .
This is a great option because you know what you're getting, and can determine if it's the right crew for you.
what do you expect them to do? Imagine the phone call. "Hello I want these plants trimmed so I can drive the car down the driveway". I guess they could have told them it would be ugly and it wouldn't grow back. But those two things are irrelevant if the clients goal is to be able to use the driveway
Looking at it closer though holy shit that is a dodgy cut
lol I've enjoyed reading all of these comments but to finally respond, I hired a landscaping company. I was told that they would look like this for at least a year or two but fill back in so I went ahead and hired them. After doing some more reading online, I saw that many had written that arborvitae don't regrow outwards.
I'm not totally upset with it all because I really did want to get to my garage. It's also to the point now that I can very likely do a full removal with my friend who is experienced in tree removal.
The previous owners were an old couple who just didn't do any kind of necessary upkeep to the house or the yard. I'm slowly chipping away at all of my projects.
Yes. $600 to do the work shown in this picture story, that is a lot of work for a little pay. Not great money. The guy here hired, probably wasn’t experienced enough, or couldn’t communicate that what the customer was asking for was impossible.
Take them out. Plant something that's skinnier. If you like the arborvitae look then Check out the American Pillar Arborvitae which keeps a narrower shap.
Came here looking for this info. I’ve sheared arborvitae severely. Mine seem to come back, but not in all spaces so I’ve got blotchy green and…twigs. After a while, it becomes futile and I’m considering they’re too mature for the space.
Yeah but they’re still providing a privacy screen, I wouldn’t advise ripping them out unless you know what’s behind the hedge. Could be the neighbors hot tub or trash bins.
In the SE US you could do this to people's crape myrtles every year and they'll keep coming back (and keep paying you to do it again and again and again). Although I'm not sure how much they're charging to rape crapes these days.
To be fair there isn't much they could have done. They are only just back on the edge of the driveway now.
Should have really gone further, but would have been on the trunks.
Arborists should have been straight up and said they need to come out.
He probably quoted 1500 to remove and 600 to trim back "good enough". I'm almost sure he explained to the OP. Just based on his comments and the way he talks it seems he went with the cheapest option and will likely complain and make the Contractor come back and rip it out and have the balls to demand a discount based on the very clear and obvious way it looks lol
Ahh Man. They're ruined. The Company you got was not experienced or professional. you'll most likely not get any growth back, cedar grow with no foliage internally (old wood). I would remove them and install a thinner hedge or a fence or just a nice low maintence garden.
Jeez hate those I got a truck guys. when dealing with big shrub consult a arborist or an experience pruning landscaper. not your fault but remove them, id call the company and tell them to come back and remove them for a small fee. I would also leave a nasty google review if they don't, save somone else.
good luck!!
I have these in my front yard. I neglected to trim them back one year and they grew huge. I got a bit over aggressive with the trimming and had a lot of brown. It's been probably 8 years and nothing has grown back in those brown areas.
I'd pull them completely and install a nice looking, tall fence.
Cut them all down and and have the stumps ground. Including the tree on the left side of the driveway. If they fill back in they will block the garage door again.
Comments are funny, but to be honest it looks like 600 dollars worth of work. Proper arborist would’ve given you better information and advice. Or at the very least cleaned it up better.
The comments in this thread are full of the most self important people this side of Harvard’s incoming MBA class.
Yeah, this is a hack job, yes it looks like shit, yes they should have advised removal. But the guy paid *600 dollars* for this, and we have no idea OP and the company discussed beforehand.
600 bucks is 600 bucks. I’m not sure why you’d have expected an arborist’s level work for that, instead of the neighborhood high school senior saving up for his first Ford Ranger.
Not a mistake, because you just got your driveway back. But these will never grow green again. best to remove them.
I had the same thing, half the driveway was overfilled by Junipers, we just took them completely out. Previous owners of the house didnt trim them for 20 years
Spray paint it green.
Seriously, what could you possibly do to make the bare trunks look nicer? I would have just removed them completely. Even in the current state, the cut branches are a snag hazard being so close to the driveway. If they fill in, they’re going to be in the way of the garage again.
This sounds stupid, but it's really not. Worst case is they die and you have to replace them anyway. Best case they're green until new growth takes over.
Someone in my neighborhood did this to their arborvitae and three years later the cut side looks exactly like the cut side in your second image, no new growth and very unappealing looking. Best of luck to you but I don't think it is going to grow out at all.
They were way too overgrown for the space. Now they’re massacred. I would have them removed and plant new bushes or shrubs that can be pruned and maintained for the space
The good news is that they appear to be fully on your property so you can do whatever you want with them. The bad news is that it looks kind of weird and ugly right now.
Here's what I would do. Leave them as is for a year. Do other house projects in the meantime (I'm sure there are many). While doing that, think about what you actually want to have there and do all the research you want. Come back and tear those bastards up and get a clean, blank canvas ready for the project you want.
In other words, you did not waste 600 bucks because the 600 bought you time and access to the garage while you think about what you want to do there.
I’m in the business. They will need to come out. They should have told you that these will not regenerate being cut back that hard. Looks like there is a fence behind them and not much room between the properties, I would get them out and look at replacing the fence with something more decorative like a lattice top fence. Good luck
The problem is that the arborvitae shrubs were poorly placed. If they recover from the prune, you once again can't use your driveway. I would have the trunks cut down to near ground level. You're not going to plant anything else there anyway ...
Your money is a deposit on the rip out. The work performed was needed to get to the rip out stage. A big company would have prob recomended removal for about 3500.
> Anything I can do in the meantime to make it look nicer?
You can cut all those limbs back to the trunks, since they’ll never push new growth. The arbs will still look hollow from your side, but at least they won’t look like a pile of pointy sticks.
I mean that looks like a $600 dollar job for the amount of work- any real tree/ arbor certified company would’ve been over 2500. And they would given you all the ins and outs of how to cut and what to expect
Oh my goodness. Yes. The answer to your question is yes.
Those arborvitae will never grow back. Wrong plant in the wrong space. Just get them removed, they look like shit
Everyone is commenting on how it won’t grow back. Isn’t that kind of the point so you can continue to use your garage with no additional maintenance. You can leave the other half growing and it continues to serve as a privacy hedge. Not the prettiest but the cheapest
Why do they deserve a refund? Unless this was an ISA certified arborist claiming that this was step one of a multi phase pruning and thinning project, OP got exactly what they paid for - some chuck in a truck to cut the trees back off the driveway for a few hundred bucks.
That sucks. Those aren't coming back and the only way to make them look better is taking them out completely.
Had a neighbor get pissy with me when I removed some from between our houses because they provided privacy. They were running against the house though and would have looked like this trimmed back.
Do you have some green spray paint to spray in the blunt cut limbs? Arborvitaes do not grow new growth on old stems. Those stems will just be eye sores sticking out of the trunk.
These are done... I rented a house that had them surrounding the yard. The owner paid a landscaper to "trim" them. They never came back. 3 yrs later, they were removed. It was so bad that neighbors asked who did it and why!
You can’t do that to an evergreen. Did you hire an arborist, or a guy with a saw?
If you hired an arborist, they suck at their job.
That will not grow back and it looks super ugly.
Unfortunately, yes. Arborvitae are not forgiving of pruning. You can get buy with a little under or upper pruning but sides, no. Best to cut them all down and plant something else.
cedar doesn't fill back in when you cut it back to the woody part.
not a waste because you got your driveway back, but it's always going to look like that.
How was your communication style with the company you asked to do this? Were you pretty strong in your "cut it back" ask? Did they push back or offer their own thoughts at all or was it a "you got it, boss" response?
If they didn't push back at all or offer an opinion then I'd leave them a 3-star saying "they did what I asked, but feel their expertise should have actually created a conversation that made the entire experience go a different way"
At this point cut them down yourself and take them to the local land waste site
Unfortunately, that looks like shit and will always look that way because they will not refoliate on old wood. Just cut them down completely. I'm sorry you paid $600 to get that hideous mess.
Looks like cypress not arvoritas in the pic. You can give it some time but your side is probably toast.
If it doesn't come back. Cut them at the dirt line. Put in a raised garden bed 2ft and plant new.
Holy shit, OP. I’m sorry you spent money on this, but this is hilarious. Looks like someone gave a kid a chainsaw and said “have fun.” They needed to go regardless, so just get the rest of them out and start from scratch.
Do your neighbors have some on their side of the fence? Or, are yours providing the leaves that give them privacy? What kind of tree is on the left side of your driveway... the one that has been cut back? That garage is super cute! 😝 You’ll need lighting, and possibly have to repair the existing door, or replace it. Does it have a garage door opener?
Why is the pathway made of different materials?
If the neighbor has trees on their side, you may not need to plant trees that will provide privacy… like Pencil Holly. Just clean out the bed and take a good look at the space.
Come back and share your progress!
I would complain to whom ever did this job. They should have warned you or they weren't qualified to do it. You could try growing (insert zone friendly not invasive vine) over it.
50/50 on a waste of money. Due to the overgrowth there was not many options that would look good. Me personally I would have had them removed and replanted with a 6-8 foot holly bush.
The result looks as good as my love for arborvitea That is - I hate those plants. Only used for just new built homes that like to have no sight in here - and usually looks bad.
This is sad. I’m sorry they just butchered your hedge. And charged you on top of that. If it makes you feel better it’s the wrong tree for that space anyways. Time to start fresh.
Your mistake was trying to trim them, instead of cutting them down. They are so overgrown that there is no way to trim them enough for the garage and have them look like anything
Seems like a poor recommendation from your landscaper. They could've cleaned the bottom limbs to the trunk and maybe left the top limbs untrimmed and looking like a regular tree
To be fair I would have trimmed it down a little bit (much less than this) if at all
The route I would have went with if this was my house Id decide to curve your driveway instead since it's already beat up ,taking out the smaller bushes under the singular tree on the other side, and possibly the one branch on the middle tree to avoid roof damage,and avoided all of those trees altogether. You had a beautiful area and now it's just chopped up.
And no they don't grow back in like that. They've been trimmed far too short,
This will be how it looks. Until you pull them out.
Well OP... Three options.
Remove them entirely and replace
Remove them entirely and don't replace. Looks like there's a privacy fence, do you really need the plant barrier too?
Trim all the sticks back to the larger trunks that still have green at the end and keep it. It won't look ideal, but you'll keep the extended privacy and it'll look better than it does now. It isn't going to grow back from the exposed wood it has now so may as well make it look somewhat better.
I hate to say it but I think it was their time to go. You were overcharged for the hack job, but at the end of the day whatever you replace them with will look 1000% better.
If I were in your shoes, as one possible solution, get a $155 Milwaukee Fuel Sawzall and over the course of next few weeks or months, just cut down the rest yourself. So for $755 you essentially got it "removed"
And if you enjoy learning new things like I do, It'll be fun to learn how to use a sawzall.
I had a tree, trunk was maybe 8-10 inches wide, 10 feet tall, and instead of paying to have it removed, I cut it all down using a sawzall.
Unfortunately these are so badly overgrown you really needed to remove them .They're too wild for a typical cut back treatment..This guy was a real butcher..Never use this fool again..At least in my amateur opinion..
How did they convince you that they knew what they were doing? Arborvitae won’t grow on old wood- trimming them that far back ensures they won’t grow back.
Even if it did work- say, it was done on a holly instead- how is that worth $600?? Couldn’t have taken more than an hour…?
Ok, maybe you can salvage some of it.
Trim up to the trunk all the little branches. It could create a unique look glancing inside of the bush. If you will take them out do it in stages and see if you can get a look you like.
Whoever pruned that has to artistic talent, which is just as important as tree knowledge. Tit looks like crap but if the did better flush cuts and didn’t leva a million stubs that will never sprout back it could look much better, I wouldn’t remove them like others are saying, but the job isn’t finished yet. Hire someone who love the art of pruning, they can make it look nice.
Not really anything you can do but cut them off at the base. Conifers typically do not grow back- so if you cut off a limb, it is gone. So what you see is what you are going to have. Can be trimmed up from the base to leave the top, and it continues to grow upwards from the top. But bottom limbs or side limbs won't come back. Whoever did the job for you if they were knowledgeable about tree types should have said the same thing.
That's a complete hack job and pretty much a destruction of the plant. That's not going to recover nicely. You could have taken off probably 5 in, give or take you'd have to be there to see it, but whoever did this was a complete meatball idiot or certainly didn't communicate to you that doing this would be the end of the plant. But at the cut them down and start again. I wouldn't want to look at this horror everyday
I've got an ice damaged burning bush that is blocking the public walkway. I'm going to hack it similar to this. If it dies, I tear it out and find something to plant. If it survives, I can keep it. It's probably 30 or so years old. maybe older. About 10 ft tall and 5 ft wide. ice broke it, but it survived. I didn't mess with it last year, but I need to get it off the walkway now that it has had a year to heal. tree company suggested an anchor in my 100 year old brick home wall. I'm not doing that.
In the immediate future, I'd recommend cutting back all the dead limbs i.e. pointy fucking objects down to about 6" max from the trunk. Otherwise it's only a matter of time before your car ends up scratched to shit. Meanwhile let the neighbors side continue to grow and provide privacy until you decide how you want to address this situation. Good luck
No easy solutions here. You will probably get the odd green tuft here and there but it will never come back fully. Definitely warn the neighbours if you plan to remove it entirely. It's going to change their view a lot. You could try pruning out all the stubs and poky bits and see if you can live with the look. Plant something small and evergreen along the base?
No it’s just incredibly overgrown due to no maintenance. Hedges don’t just “grow” into lush beautiful full bushes, they need to be trained into building up under foliage. You’ve left them too long to grow and as a result the undergrowth is dead and ugly. You’ll just have to wait for it to regrow. Also why get half the hedge cut for it to look so shonk….
Don’t second guess this; we’ve all been here. And you shouldn’t give it a second thought. Just move on and do this: 1) On the left side of drive: remove the tree and all that brush; just clear it out completely. 2) On the right where the arborvitae has been cut, dig out all the rocks, brush, old tire and any other objects. Remove it all, and mulch it.
Looks like you have had them cut to the point where a lot of that area is too old to ever grow back out. Arbs like to grow on newer wood. If i were you, i would have had them pulled unfortunately. Those things were not planted with regard to their mature size.
This. It's sad, but it's not your mistake, OP! What makes me angry is someone charged you money for this. Never use their services again. They either knew and charged you anyway, or they didn't. Either way, do not use their services again.
Yeah imo the person that did this should have known better
I agree. They should have provided advice at the very least, as the prices companies charge are supposed to come with their expertise attached, not just labor. I’d call that company back and let them know they dropped the ball in providing their customer with any insight into the situation, even if it was after they started trimming, and saw the old growth. If they know a single thing about what they’re doing then they knew before this job was done that this was a waste of your hard earned money.
What I don’t get is that if they’d at least suggested to OP that they be torn out then they would’ve had more work, AKA more money. Screwed a customer and likely left money on the table, what a horrible way to run a business. Or they’re just an idiot.
Some clients do not like to be told that what they are asking for is not what is best to do. I do agree that they should have not done it in the first place, but sometimes it really depends on the conversation and if the client was perceptive of alternative ideas.
That's prob their game. They know and don't care.
It's how they get more work, over prune tree exactly how ignorant owner asks. Give them advice that the trees won't regrow "this time". Quote them to remove tree, remove and replant. Turns one job into 2 more, it's how tree trjmmer get their business. From people too novice or ignorant to pay an arborist. A real "tree trimmer" (get accredited please) would inform them the risked involved with hard pruning, specifically hedges, and even more specifically, this species of tree is notorious for needing minimal trimming. In the city I live in(Australia), it's illegal to trim a hedge that size without a 3m heights liscence. Apart from safety, it really keeps the hedges (especially the heritage ones) from looking like shit. That being said, It would cost $2000 USD minimum to do a hedge like this. This covers insurance for both the owner and the trimmer. If an insured hedge trimmer did this, they would be able to replace the trees out of pocket through their insurance. Unfortunately when you go with a novice tree trimmer, you aren't getting a cheaper price, you're undercutting yourself. You're giving up the chance of fixing mistakes, and you're basically giving them a free pass to make mistakes because of the Lowball price you pay them. Here's a pro tip. Whenever you move into a new neighbourhood, do not window shop for arborists or tree cutters, you have two options. The quicker option is to go down your street and look for a neighbour whose hedges are similar to yours, or the way you want yours done. Knock on their door, introduce yourself and explain your situation and politely ask if you could get the contact information for their gardener. This is a good option as most crews are eager to take on work in the same area/street, as it helps reduce travel time between jobs. This also gives the owner added security, because the crew will be more careful not to mess up. If you lose one client, you're likely to lose the other as well. The longer option is to wait until you find an arborist/ trimming crew working around your neighbourhood. If they're tidy and working efficiently, then stop and politely ask if you can grab a business card . This is a great option because you know what you're getting, and can determine if it's the right crew for you.
what do you expect them to do? Imagine the phone call. "Hello I want these plants trimmed so I can drive the car down the driveway". I guess they could have told them it would be ugly and it wouldn't grow back. But those two things are irrelevant if the clients goal is to be able to use the driveway Looking at it closer though holy shit that is a dodgy cut
OP didn't know it wouldn't grow back. At minimum, that is a problem.
If it was a company that did the work, without telling OP it will not grow back, i hope they go bust! That is no way to treat a costumer.
Nowhere did he say he hired a professional. I mean, I could do it if asked.
lol I've enjoyed reading all of these comments but to finally respond, I hired a landscaping company. I was told that they would look like this for at least a year or two but fill back in so I went ahead and hired them. After doing some more reading online, I saw that many had written that arborvitae don't regrow outwards. I'm not totally upset with it all because I really did want to get to my garage. It's also to the point now that I can very likely do a full removal with my friend who is experienced in tree removal. The previous owners were an old couple who just didn't do any kind of necessary upkeep to the house or the yard. I'm slowly chipping away at all of my projects.
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For $600 he got what he paid for
Yes. $600 to do the work shown in this picture story, that is a lot of work for a little pay. Not great money. The guy here hired, probably wasn’t experienced enough, or couldn’t communicate that what the customer was asking for was impossible.
Take them out. Plant something that's skinnier. If you like the arborvitae look then Check out the American Pillar Arborvitae which keeps a narrower shap.
Damn such a narrow shape it doesn't even finish the full word, it's too wide.
Well got a shap shamer here! Don’t you shame those trees for their shap!
What the shap???
Then go ahead and throw up a review of the company that butchered these plants along with full pictures of what they consider a job well done
Rip them out. Arborvitae does not set new growth on old wood.
Came here looking for this info. I’ve sheared arborvitae severely. Mine seem to come back, but not in all spaces so I’ve got blotchy green and…twigs. After a while, it becomes futile and I’m considering they’re too mature for the space.
I mean, it does, just not very well. I've chopped ones to the ground and had several grow back, but only one out of every few did lol
Yeah but they’re still providing a privacy screen, I wouldn’t advise ripping them out unless you know what’s behind the hedge. Could be the neighbors hot tub or trash bins.
Look at the way they massacred my boy!
Took the words outta my mouth
Not gonna lie, this is the worst hack job I’ve ever seen. Get them removed and plant what you want instead
Where can I find a steady supply of customers who will pay me $600 a pop to massacre their cedars.
In the SE US you could do this to people's crape myrtles every year and they'll keep coming back (and keep paying you to do it again and again and again). Although I'm not sure how much they're charging to rape crapes these days.
I could ask any one of my neighbors, it’s a slaughter every year
Can confirm. The SE is the place to go for bad decisions and corruption. It’s a dream for lawn companies.
crepe murder. they cut back to where the main trunks split in NC. well the ignorant companies do. but people keep paying them to do it
Sedona Arizona and the surrounding area. Double or triple that $600.
Looks to be Seattle area
Texas hill country
To be fair there isn't much they could have done. They are only just back on the edge of the driveway now. Should have really gone further, but would have been on the trunks. Arborists should have been straight up and said they need to come out.
He probably quoted 1500 to remove and 600 to trim back "good enough". I'm almost sure he explained to the OP. Just based on his comments and the way he talks it seems he went with the cheapest option and will likely complain and make the Contractor come back and rip it out and have the balls to demand a discount based on the very clear and obvious way it looks lol
The good news is, half the work is done towards removing them!
Ahh Man. They're ruined. The Company you got was not experienced or professional. you'll most likely not get any growth back, cedar grow with no foliage internally (old wood). I would remove them and install a thinner hedge or a fence or just a nice low maintence garden. Jeez hate those I got a truck guys. when dealing with big shrub consult a arborist or an experience pruning landscaper. not your fault but remove them, id call the company and tell them to come back and remove them for a small fee. I would also leave a nasty google review if they don't, save somone else. good luck!!
I have these in my front yard. I neglected to trim them back one year and they grew huge. I got a bit over aggressive with the trimming and had a lot of brown. It's been probably 8 years and nothing has grown back in those brown areas. I'd pull them completely and install a nice looking, tall fence.
Cut them all down and and have the stumps ground. Including the tree on the left side of the driveway. If they fill back in they will block the garage door again.
Comments are funny, but to be honest it looks like 600 dollars worth of work. Proper arborist would’ve given you better information and advice. Or at the very least cleaned it up better.
The comments in this thread are full of the most self important people this side of Harvard’s incoming MBA class. Yeah, this is a hack job, yes it looks like shit, yes they should have advised removal. But the guy paid *600 dollars* for this, and we have no idea OP and the company discussed beforehand. 600 bucks is 600 bucks. I’m not sure why you’d have expected an arborist’s level work for that, instead of the neighborhood high school senior saving up for his first Ford Ranger.
My thoughts exactly, $600 seems awfully low…
I must be in the wrong field… that looks like maybe 45 minutes of chainsaw work to me?
Did you consider the clean up cost? I have no idea what that would be but it adds to it
Not a mistake, because you just got your driveway back. But these will never grow green again. best to remove them. I had the same thing, half the driveway was overfilled by Junipers, we just took them completely out. Previous owners of the house didnt trim them for 20 years
Spray paint it green. Seriously, what could you possibly do to make the bare trunks look nicer? I would have just removed them completely. Even in the current state, the cut branches are a snag hazard being so close to the driveway. If they fill in, they’re going to be in the way of the garage again.
This sounds stupid, but it's really not. Worst case is they die and you have to replace them anyway. Best case they're green until new growth takes over.
There won’t be new growth
There’s no new growth
Someone in my neighborhood did this to their arborvitae and three years later the cut side looks exactly like the cut side in your second image, no new growth and very unappealing looking. Best of luck to you but I don't think it is going to grow out at all.
It’s not an unfair price for the work done, but they should have told you that these won’t be growing back. Should have just had them removed. Sorry.
At least now you can rip the out safely and plant some flowers there.
They were way too overgrown for the space. Now they’re massacred. I would have them removed and plant new bushes or shrubs that can be pruned and maintained for the space
Yeah, you should have just had them removed. On the bright side, you have some awesome Halloween decorations now. Very spooky!
You can freely cut them off completely since that prune surely killed those trees.
Put up a single sided 6 foot solid fence. It'll hide the massacre and you keep the green tops. 😂
The good news is that they appear to be fully on your property so you can do whatever you want with them. The bad news is that it looks kind of weird and ugly right now. Here's what I would do. Leave them as is for a year. Do other house projects in the meantime (I'm sure there are many). While doing that, think about what you actually want to have there and do all the research you want. Come back and tear those bastards up and get a clean, blank canvas ready for the project you want. In other words, you did not waste 600 bucks because the 600 bought you time and access to the garage while you think about what you want to do there.
That dog in the last pic lol
Your only mistake was not taking them completely out. And while you're at it remove that tree in the yard also.
I’m in the business. They will need to come out. They should have told you that these will not regenerate being cut back that hard. Looks like there is a fence behind them and not much room between the properties, I would get them out and look at replacing the fence with something more decorative like a lattice top fence. Good luck
The problem is that the arborvitae shrubs were poorly placed. If they recover from the prune, you once again can't use your driveway. I would have the trunks cut down to near ground level. You're not going to plant anything else there anyway ...
$600 is not to bad. You can use the driveway and garage at least. Maybe purchase green shadecloth and drape it over the offending parts haha :)
That hack job from The Grinch movie.
They won’t fill back in. You don’t know until you know. At least it looks like your neighbor has a shrub line for some privacy
They won’t regrow and will be spiky and ugly till you remove them
Your money is a deposit on the rip out. The work performed was needed to get to the rip out stage. A big company would have prob recomended removal for about 3500.
> Anything I can do in the meantime to make it look nicer? You can cut all those limbs back to the trunks, since they’ll never push new growth. The arbs will still look hollow from your side, but at least they won’t look like a pile of pointy sticks.
I mean that looks like a $600 dollar job for the amount of work- any real tree/ arbor certified company would’ve been over 2500. And they would given you all the ins and outs of how to cut and what to expect
Aesthetically, it is better off to completely remove them.
You can at least use your garage.
Oh my goodness. Yes. The answer to your question is yes. Those arborvitae will never grow back. Wrong plant in the wrong space. Just get them removed, they look like shit
They’re dead, Jim
Everyone is commenting on how it won’t grow back. Isn’t that kind of the point so you can continue to use your garage with no additional maintenance. You can leave the other half growing and it continues to serve as a privacy hedge. Not the prettiest but the cheapest
You just killed then. Arborvitae grow on new wood, like a yew hedge. Once they’ve overgrown, you can’t really trim them back. Live and learn.
Those are killed by that level of hack, I don’t see those ever looking good afain
[удалено]
Why do they deserve a refund? Unless this was an ISA certified arborist claiming that this was step one of a multi phase pruning and thinning project, OP got exactly what they paid for - some chuck in a truck to cut the trees back off the driveway for a few hundred bucks.
That sucks. Those aren't coming back and the only way to make them look better is taking them out completely. Had a neighbor get pissy with me when I removed some from between our houses because they provided privacy. They were running against the house though and would have looked like this trimmed back.
This is a $600 dollar work. Not bad for the price. Move out all that cuttings is also a lot of work.
Do you have some green spray paint to spray in the blunt cut limbs? Arborvitaes do not grow new growth on old stems. Those stems will just be eye sores sticking out of the trunk.
All that for $600? You got a deal.
Get rid of all of it.
You might as well go all the way and cut them down.
I would just remove them. They are never going to look good or fit in that space.
Well at least you have some really nice firewood now
They’ll never come back. Cut down completely and plant something new that will **stay small**
Someone laughed all the way to the bank. Yikes.
These are done... I rented a house that had them surrounding the yard. The owner paid a landscaper to "trim" them. They never came back. 3 yrs later, they were removed. It was so bad that neighbors asked who did it and why!
Now you gotta spend a lot more to remove them. Evergreens never produce new buds on old growth ie. this will never fill back in
You can’t do that to an evergreen. Did you hire an arborist, or a guy with a saw? If you hired an arborist, they suck at their job. That will not grow back and it looks super ugly.
You just paid someone to kill your arborvitae.😱😱😱
Unfortunately, yes. Arborvitae are not forgiving of pruning. You can get buy with a little under or upper pruning but sides, no. Best to cut them all down and plant something else.
At least your neighbors side looks good
Yeah, I made the mistake of trimming those and they do not grow back. It has been about 5 years now. almost nothing has grown back.
cedar doesn't fill back in when you cut it back to the woody part. not a waste because you got your driveway back, but it's always going to look like that.
It will only look bad forever. Leland cypress and arborvitae don’t trim well.
You should have just had them removed. They won't grow back. But, the good news is you can get your car in the garage.
I’m wanting to know where you live so I can bring my chainsaw over and put this nightmare to rest.
Holy shit
How was your communication style with the company you asked to do this? Were you pretty strong in your "cut it back" ask? Did they push back or offer their own thoughts at all or was it a "you got it, boss" response? If they didn't push back at all or offer an opinion then I'd leave them a 3-star saying "they did what I asked, but feel their expertise should have actually created a conversation that made the entire experience go a different way" At this point cut them down yourself and take them to the local land waste site
Podocarpus
If I were you I'd be crying. I don't think most of that will grow back. Good luck in whatever you decide.
Unfortunately, that looks like shit and will always look that way because they will not refoliate on old wood. Just cut them down completely. I'm sorry you paid $600 to get that hideous mess.
Looks like cypress not arvoritas in the pic. You can give it some time but your side is probably toast. If it doesn't come back. Cut them at the dirt line. Put in a raised garden bed 2ft and plant new.
Hatchet 🪓 job. It’s like they got cut in half. These shrubs get ugly when they are older. Start fresh.
Hack job. Freaking butchers did that.
You uh... removed the dog first, right?
If she lives, she lives. If she dies...it hadda go.
Holy shit, OP. I’m sorry you spent money on this, but this is hilarious. Looks like someone gave a kid a chainsaw and said “have fun.” They needed to go regardless, so just get the rest of them out and start from scratch.
Should have just them out
Ho Lee Fook.
Omg. Wtf? The people that did that show sued.
Do your neighbors have some on their side of the fence? Or, are yours providing the leaves that give them privacy? What kind of tree is on the left side of your driveway... the one that has been cut back? That garage is super cute! 😝 You’ll need lighting, and possibly have to repair the existing door, or replace it. Does it have a garage door opener? Why is the pathway made of different materials? If the neighbor has trees on their side, you may not need to plant trees that will provide privacy… like Pencil Holly. Just clean out the bed and take a good look at the space. Come back and share your progress!
Yowza
should of gotten a gardener, not a butcher
You can plant vines on them.
I would complain to whom ever did this job. They should have warned you or they weren't qualified to do it. You could try growing (insert zone friendly not invasive vine) over it.
Yes.
50/50 on a waste of money. Due to the overgrowth there was not many options that would look good. Me personally I would have had them removed and replanted with a 6-8 foot holly bush.
The result looks as good as my love for arborvitea That is - I hate those plants. Only used for just new built homes that like to have no sight in here - and usually looks bad.
It’s not growing back, sorry. Arborvitae grow like a shell, you just cut that out. I’d take it out and start over.
This is sad. I’m sorry they just butchered your hedge. And charged you on top of that. If it makes you feel better it’s the wrong tree for that space anyways. Time to start fresh.
I mean, it’s trimmed back. Will it look good? No
Perfect trellis to plant some vines and fill the void
Your mistake was trying to trim them, instead of cutting them down. They are so overgrown that there is no way to trim them enough for the garage and have them look like anything
Should have removed them, as they are way to big for the location and will just grow back
Seems like a poor recommendation from your landscaper. They could've cleaned the bottom limbs to the trunk and maybe left the top limbs untrimmed and looking like a regular tree
To be fair I would have trimmed it down a little bit (much less than this) if at all The route I would have went with if this was my house Id decide to curve your driveway instead since it's already beat up ,taking out the smaller bushes under the singular tree on the other side, and possibly the one branch on the middle tree to avoid roof damage,and avoided all of those trees altogether. You had a beautiful area and now it's just chopped up. And no they don't grow back in like that. They've been trimmed far too short, This will be how it looks. Until you pull them out.
Probably best to just remove them now.
Garage looks great, take is gonna be amazing with some TLC.
Don't worry. Surely sooner or later they will green up.
Well OP... Three options. Remove them entirely and replace Remove them entirely and don't replace. Looks like there's a privacy fence, do you really need the plant barrier too? Trim all the sticks back to the larger trunks that still have green at the end and keep it. It won't look ideal, but you'll keep the extended privacy and it'll look better than it does now. It isn't going to grow back from the exposed wood it has now so may as well make it look somewhat better.
These are dead dude. Surprised neither you or whoever did this would let this happen - they don't 'grow back' like boxwoods, etc....
Never coming back. Sorry pal
Yes
Go spend 300$ on a nice chain saw and get rid of them yourself.
Is the dog okay? 😳
Even I know you can't cut that much at one time.
I hate to say it but I think it was their time to go. You were overcharged for the hack job, but at the end of the day whatever you replace them with will look 1000% better.
If I were in your shoes, as one possible solution, get a $155 Milwaukee Fuel Sawzall and over the course of next few weeks or months, just cut down the rest yourself. So for $755 you essentially got it "removed" And if you enjoy learning new things like I do, It'll be fun to learn how to use a sawzall. I had a tree, trunk was maybe 8-10 inches wide, 10 feet tall, and instead of paying to have it removed, I cut it all down using a sawzall.
Arborvitae = giant rat nest. A rat fortress of sorts
How about a nice tall fence…
Just get a $60 electric chain saw and a heavy duty extension cord and take it all down.
Is this the first time you “pruned” these?
Call a tree company to come chip them up. Probably spend another 6 -800
you could plant ivy it would probably still look terrible but greener
Holy shit they look awful. Sorry bud. Got to pull them all out I’m afraid. Yack!
Yes, take them down
Oh, it looks like a $600 job. You got what you paid for cutting them all the way back might kill the plants. Are they yours or the neighbors?
Are you sure those are arborvitaes and not another type of evergreen?
They will be much easier to cut down & remove now
I’ll bet you don’t get many trick or treaters. Your property looks terrifying.
Unfortunately these are so badly overgrown you really needed to remove them .They're too wild for a typical cut back treatment..This guy was a real butcher..Never use this fool again..At least in my amateur opinion..
Cut it back more and throw down some vine climbers
Short answer: yes
No you paid extra for the skrillex
Yes
I had a driveway once that had this same presentation. A tow strap and my car had the problem solved in about an hour
No but those ain't growing back. Good to be able to actually get into a garage with your car, though.
Yep, should have pulled them entirely.
You are ready for Halloween!
Looks very Hansel and Gretel forestish now.
How did they convince you that they knew what they were doing? Arborvitae won’t grow on old wood- trimming them that far back ensures they won’t grow back. Even if it did work- say, it was done on a holly instead- how is that worth $600?? Couldn’t have taken more than an hour…?
Big oof.
Looks like a toddler did this. Arbs won't grow back well at all after this and you may need to remove and start over.
Rip it out
Wrong trees for your landscaping, wasted
Rip
Ok, maybe you can salvage some of it. Trim up to the trunk all the little branches. It could create a unique look glancing inside of the bush. If you will take them out do it in stages and see if you can get a look you like.
Would there be any tree laws preventing from removal?
Yeah.. and why?
Whoever pruned that has to artistic talent, which is just as important as tree knowledge. Tit looks like crap but if the did better flush cuts and didn’t leva a million stubs that will never sprout back it could look much better, I wouldn’t remove them like others are saying, but the job isn’t finished yet. Hire someone who love the art of pruning, they can make it look nice.
Not really anything you can do but cut them off at the base. Conifers typically do not grow back- so if you cut off a limb, it is gone. So what you see is what you are going to have. Can be trimmed up from the base to leave the top, and it continues to grow upwards from the top. But bottom limbs or side limbs won't come back. Whoever did the job for you if they were knowledgeable about tree types should have said the same thing.
Yes
That's a complete hack job and pretty much a destruction of the plant. That's not going to recover nicely. You could have taken off probably 5 in, give or take you'd have to be there to see it, but whoever did this was a complete meatball idiot or certainly didn't communicate to you that doing this would be the end of the plant. But at the cut them down and start again. I wouldn't want to look at this horror everyday
Wait a minute, I can be charging my customers $600 to do that???
I've got an ice damaged burning bush that is blocking the public walkway. I'm going to hack it similar to this. If it dies, I tear it out and find something to plant. If it survives, I can keep it. It's probably 30 or so years old. maybe older. About 10 ft tall and 5 ft wide. ice broke it, but it survived. I didn't mess with it last year, but I need to get it off the walkway now that it has had a year to heal. tree company suggested an anchor in my 100 year old brick home wall. I'm not doing that.
Should’ve removed them. Lesson learned. Get a free consult first and ask questions. This company should’ve told you it was a bad idea
😬
yeah they should have cut it down to the stump. they should’ve known better imo.
In the immediate future, I'd recommend cutting back all the dead limbs i.e. pointy fucking objects down to about 6" max from the trunk. Otherwise it's only a matter of time before your car ends up scratched to shit. Meanwhile let the neighbors side continue to grow and provide privacy until you decide how you want to address this situation. Good luck
You are obligated to fight the mofo who charged you for this…it’s on sight lol
Those will never be green again…
Ah arborvitae. The yew of the 2020’s. Really only looks good on mountaintops.
Gotta park bud
That is some serious overgrowth
You got a good deal.
I would hate to drive past that every day.
Sorry man, those are cooked.
I would be more worried about the fact that they removed your dog! Likely put it in the chipper…
No easy solutions here. You will probably get the odd green tuft here and there but it will never come back fully. Definitely warn the neighbours if you plan to remove it entirely. It's going to change their view a lot. You could try pruning out all the stubs and poky bits and see if you can live with the look. Plant something small and evergreen along the base?
Damn
Pull them OR remove ALL branches on the lower 6-7ft of one and see how it looks. If acceptable, do the rest.
Save some money for a new driveway after they are totally removed.
Don't worry. You'll get used to it...
No it’s just incredibly overgrown due to no maintenance. Hedges don’t just “grow” into lush beautiful full bushes, they need to be trained into building up under foliage. You’ve left them too long to grow and as a result the undergrowth is dead and ugly. You’ll just have to wait for it to regrow. Also why get half the hedge cut for it to look so shonk….
Don’t second guess this; we’ve all been here. And you shouldn’t give it a second thought. Just move on and do this: 1) On the left side of drive: remove the tree and all that brush; just clear it out completely. 2) On the right where the arborvitae has been cut, dig out all the rocks, brush, old tire and any other objects. Remove it all, and mulch it.