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arborvitaes, help me decide please!

14 years ago

Hi All!

I need help deciding what to do with my very large, rather droopy arborvitaes. I have 4, side by side providing a nice screen from my neighbors yard. However, the grapes he had growing out of control got all tangled up throughout my arborvitaes. I rencently cut them out but in the process of yanking on them some of the branches have separated slightly and some are now drooping. I guess I can try to support them with a rope of some kind but I'm not very confident I can make them look better. Aslo, they are also so large that their width intrudes on the pathway out of my backyard. I'm thinking maybe just take them out? 2 questions:take them out and plant another nice shrub to create a screen? And what to plant? Something fast growing would be nice. Any suggestions? TIA

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
they are conifers.. not shrubs...

you should have left the grapes there .. cut.. until fall.. after the leaves fell off.. and you wouldnt have harmed the arbs as much

cant really tell you if removal is suggested without a picture ...

if you do remove them.. whether you want to replace with a shrub.. or a conifer.. is left to fate.. no shrub is going to get tall.. and stay thin.. though there are conifers that might

ken
Donna
14 years ago
As far as the drooping branches are concerned, you can tie them up and in with inobtrusive twine. Just tie them to other strong branches on the interior of the shrub.

Depending on the type of arborvitae and its eventual mature size, I would selectively remove the offending branches. As long as you don't trim back into dead wood, you're fine. If you cut back too far, you'll be left with a bare spot that will not regrow, though, so use care.

If the shrubs are always going to be too big (WAY too big), you'll eventually have to remove them. Sooner is easier than later. Otherwise, I would try to work with them. It's cheaper and they're already a nice screening size. (Fast growing sometimes means a shrub that will get huge again, or a shrub that will have weak wood.)
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madeyna
14 years ago
We use old panyhose or rubber pond liner cut into strips to trie them up. Both have some give so the plant can still sway with the wind and take a snow load without the support material cutting into the shrub. There is a huge differance in how tall a arborvitaes can get if you still have the tags you might want to read it so you know what one your dealing with.

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