short of leaving a stump with no green.. you couldnt kill them if you wanted to ...

as to where to cut.. how do i know.. what do you want them to look like????

name a goal.. and we can get you there ...

BTW .. dont feel foolish ...

ken

ps: now.. that said.. they are about 8 feet too close to the garage... starting to encroach the driveway .... and going to be 2 feet further into the lawn come fall .... while thinking about what your goal is.. do not rule removal.. and replacement.. with a conifer more suited to the space given ...

I like the shape they are. If I cut about 2' off the top and cut the branches back by 1/3, is there any chance they will end up looking okay? Or is there a better way to do it? My poor excuse for them getting away from me is that I foolishly thought they were not supposed to get this big. My yard is almost exclusively natives, and this was a substitute for the native Juniper that gets huge.

This might be a better picture - they're just starting to touch the house and reach outside the bed. And that's not the garage, it's the back of the house with a deep landscaped window well so it's okay if it hangs over.

Actually they will never look good when you cut back 1/3rd and remove 2 ft. off the top. The DNA programed growth into this conifer will bite you back hard refusing to accept what you want it to look like especially at the bottom where growth is more pronounced and open.

They will fight you to keep growing and will be ugly at the same time.

This type of Juniper makes great wind breaks out in the field of nowhere. They do have worth when used properly.

There are many manageable cultivars that will give you the look you want for sale in the trade. Do your home work. Start with 10 year growth for height and width.

Dave

Yep, those are beautiful 'Kaizuka' junipers. I wouldn't want them against the siding of my house either. Too bad they were planted in the wrong spot.

Dax

Okay, I'm about to spit nails. Those DO look like 'Kaizuka' junipers. I just dug out the bill from the nursery from 8 years ago. They're supposed to be 'Hetzi Columnaris' junipers. There's not a chance in hell that they are, right?

Last year we dug up the Hawthorn that had not grown in 8 years and found that it was root bound with the root flare down about 6". We paid to have it "professionally" planted. What's supposed to be a native witch hazel that blooms in the fall is something that blooms in the spring with nondescript brown flowers. Two river birch that they planted died. All the trees that we planted ourselves are doing fine. Arghhh!!!

Sorry about the rant. Do I have any recourse at this point?

If the nursery is still in business your only recourse is to approach them to make it good. A lot of water under the bridge but a good business practice for them is to replace.

Take a couple of photos with you

The 'Hetzi Columnaris' a much better choice although they can achieve a 6 ft. width so plant accordingly.

See link

Good luck.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thank you - I almost went in to complain when we dug out the Hawthorn last year. This time they're hearing from me for sure.

This post was edited by beckylc on Fri, May 3, 13 at 11:32

Any chance we can see an update on this pruning job which was 7 years ago?? :-)

I'm glad to know the nursery tried to correct the situation. What did you get to replace them? Fortunately I have no such problem. I'm just interested in Junipers in general, particularly Hetzi Columnaris.