Thanks everyone for the feedback. Bboy - interesting point about the growth. Based on what I've read, these tend to grow much faster than they have, and I'd wondered why they hadn't made much progress. *#^%(#(% They looked very healthy, I didn't notice any dead needles on the inner part of the tree this past summer, and we've watered and fertilized as necessary. I did notice that they filled in a lot width-wise, however. Other than the height, I THOUGHT they were doing great. I don't think fence height had as much to do with it as does the amount of snow we've had in comparison to recent years. It's never been an issue until now. We were in the habit of twining only the loose upper brances, but my gosh, I would have had to twine the entire tree top to bottom this year to prevent this with the amount of snow we've had in Wisconsin ---- didn't know to do that....expensive lessen learned...and of course the nursery doesn't explain that when you hand over the credit card. Deer not an issue in the inner city. Single stemmed and multi-leadered - things you never know to ask, and they don't tell. I thought I did all the necessary research before we purchased, but next time I'll spend a little more time - perhaps on this forum! I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Techny.

google tractor supply.. believe it or not ... there are a bunch in nj ... get the twine at the link.. one HALF MILE ... for $20 .. it is a two person job .... get someone to grab the tree a foot or two up from the ground... make a circle.. pull it snug.. but not overly tight.. tie it off to itself ... and then start wrapping in a candy cane manner ... up to about a foot from the top. and then back down ... and tie again to itself at the bottom ... understand.. that all you are doing ... is closing the pores .. lets say ... where snow might gather .... YOU ARE NOT TIE-ING IT LIKE A MILITARY CAPTIVE ... it really doesnt have to be all that tight.. what you are doing.. is making the whole tree .. a single branch.. which will hold itself upright ... rather than a plethora of single branches which will bend when weight is applied ... the beauty of the twine.. is you can throw it all away in spring ... wrap your head around this: WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO STORE ALL THAT BURLAP YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT BUYING???? for next winter ... i wish i had a picture.. but i dont ... maybe someone else here has a picture .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks for the great input all. Another lively discussion. Sorry for not giving more context. Here's a picture of the bed and the "baby". Here's 2 examples of the "careful" roof clearing that went on last year. These aren't my units, but similar. Many residents had serious issues with mature shrub breaks, brokens screens, covered vents and leaks. Here's a side view of what my bed looked like. Picea is to the left of that rose somewhere: So, keeping it clear of snow is not really an option when we are inundated like that!. Moving it maybe could help a bit but anywhere in the vicinity would still be in the target zone of disaster. Even the snow shovelers were trampling through beds stepping (stomping) on whatever was underfoot rather than walking around using sidewalks. The breaks could have been from a ladder or a foot. And of course, when crews come, I am likely not home to direct them and have no control over their schedule. Part of this new condo lifestyle is supposed to be downsizing the maintenance and gardening part of my life. Sitting inside by the fireplace and having snow shovelers and roof clearers is my new normal!!! So, solutions have to fit that mode. So I'm going to go with Ron and do the a-frame. It doesn't sound like it will be harmful. That's what I was concerned with. p.s. the mending already took place, so cutting off last year's broken branches now doesn't seem to make sense, but maybe even more reason for an a-frame this year. I just have to make sure it is strong enough so it doesn't collapse. At my former house I mended a mature Fat Albert picea and it worked great.

I have a had many pines produce new buds around the edge of a removed/broken limb especially if that area receives enough sun light. I have even had every single bud devoured by deer on several different species of pines during the winter with no buds left to push in spring. I thought about pulling these bare sticks out thinking there was no hope with no visible buds but to my surprise they eventually ended up popping out new buds. Yeah, Thunderhead hates the weight of snow. I removed half of my Thunderhead branches yesterday. It had many splayed and bent to the ground branches from the last snow. Still looks like a great tree and they can fill in spaces fast with the coverage of those long needles. Open spaces can look good too. As Ken mentioned, Interior needle removal is a must or you'll end up with a soggy, moldy, dead tree. Though this doesn't apply to you Stuart, as I remember you keep your tree heavily pruned. I remove masses of collected dead needles from the interior every year. I have only recently, the past two years, been pruning and thinning out a few branches here and there to increase air circulation. like Sarah mentioned this cultivar can benefit from a good pruning.