Cutting Conifers

[Im a BusyBee]

Is it ok to cut conifers back (quite severely) now that its frosty or will it kill them off if the frost gets to them?

[Palustris]

Be careful, some conifers will not grow from brown wood. If you cut them back severely you they will always stay brown where you have cut them. The dreaded Leylandii is a good example of this type of conifer.

[Thunderbird+]

I'm in full ageement with Palustris here, Most conifers will not break fresh growth from old wood, Yew and thuja plicata are two possible exeptions to the rule.

It can be fatal or damaging to cut/trim in frosty weather, you would do better to do this in the spring after all fear of frost has gone. Good Luck. Tbird+

[landscaper2]

I have noticed around our way that quite a number of established, regularly maintainted conifer hedges have browned and seem to be dying off this year. As T/bird says, probably due to being trimmed at the wrong time. As a matter of interest, I have beed able to bring life and shape back to browned conifers by selecting some whippy new growth and tying it in across the 'dead' part. I found this particularly effective when other shrubs have been allowed to grow too close and have been removed.

[Thunderbird+]

I was interested to see that landscaper had noticed a lot of conifer hedges browning this year, I too have noticed this and it seems to be common and wide-spread lately.
I recalled reading an article stating that 'Conifer Aphid' is becoming an increasingly common problem, this promted me to do a Google search and I found this RHS article that may be of some interest.-
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Research/Projec ts/cypressdieback.htm

[landscaper2]

Cheers t/bird - interesting article, could it be the 'Dutch Elm disease' of the Lleylandii!? We've even had a few hedges 'spontaneously combust' recently around here, stangely all growing close to the public footpath!!