Conifer destroyed! How can I salvage the look?

achern

9 years ago

My "gardener" lopped off lower branches when trying to prune the tree.

1. Will the cut off branches reshoot and cover the huge hole?

2. If not, what would be the best way to salvage the disaster?

I'm thinking of growing ivy over the lower part of the tree.

Any suggestions for my tropical climate would be greatly appreciated.

Condolences accepted too.

Many thanks,
A.

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
fire him

ken
achern
Original Author
9 years ago
Goes without saying, though my immediate concern is how to remedy the situation.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
first ID the shrub with closer pix.. thuja or cham???

decide if stubs will resprout.. in this century ....

if not ..... remove all stubs ...

then decide if you can live with it ...

i might prefer removal with malice and aforethought .. in regard to the shrub... [lets not think about the gardener right now.. lol] ...

its really about your state of mind.. and whether it will aggravate you every single minute of your life when you are in your garden ... vs... whether you will find your zen.. in watching.. seeing.. and pruning it back.. into some magnificent shape ...

it really something along the lines if you are personality type A or B .....

one thing for sure.. it will never be.. what it USED TO BE .....

if it were out in my back 4 ACRES... I might enjoy playing with it .. and seeing what happens ... if it was sitting right in front of my relaxing chair... i think it would be chopped to the ground in about 5 minutes.. and then i could relax ...

make that decision.. and then we can decide how to go about it ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
baxswoh
9 years ago
To Ken's point on the correct plant ID I would add:

Now that the inside is exposed you need to ascertain whether the unattractive foliage is the nature of the plant and will always look bad or whether you can clean out that foliage and expose a branch scaffolding that suits your viewing taste.
edlincoln
9 years ago
What about just surrounding it with some low, evergreen shrub so you don't see the lower part? In the US I'd think about holly, mountain laurel or dwarf alberta spruce...not sure what to use in Singapore.
Embothrium
9 years ago
It's a Platycladus and you are going to be looking at that dead zone for some time unless you cut it down and use the space for something else.
mikebotann
9 years ago
I agree. I don't see how it can be made to look good again.
Those stubs show me that the guy who did it (I'm not going to call him a gardener) has very little knowledge of Platycladus he 'whacked' on. They don't come back from stubs. It's not a plant you can prune with a machete.
I'd show him the road.
Mike
Here's one of mine.
{{gwi:2124171}}