Cutting back conifers myself

longwalks1

At the bottom of our garden we’ve got several conifers that are approximately 7 metres tall.  We are happy with their height but would like to trim the spread back a little, as about 1m of foliage overhangs our seating area 

Aside from getting in a tree surgeon/pruning company, how else can I trim them back myself?  Our neighbours had some similar trees cut back last year and I’m sure they paid close to £1,000 for the days work.

Any advice greatly appreciated 

Woolsery

More clarity is needed here about the thickness of stems you plan to cut and how high they are.

You can get a cheap pole saw in Lidl or Aldi for about £70, but it will only reach about 4m-5m max and on conifers it may not give very easy or neat results if 'trimming' is attempted. Pole saws are fine for clean cuts in moderately thick stems, but they are really mini chain saws and will simply bounce off thinner ones that 'give.'

Better for trimming  are long handled loppers, operated manually with a rope pull, but these are mostly shorter than pole saws. These can't cope with thicker stems.

Everything changes if you buy a Henchman-type tripod ladder. These start at around £250 and if it would be useful elsewhere then it might be worth it.

Maybe someone else will have a better suggestion.

Devongardener

Be careful how much you cut back conifers.  Make sure to leave a good bit of green growth as they will not shoot out again from the bare branch and you will be left with brown branches.

Keep_pedalling

At 7m high it is not worth the risk to tackle this yourself. Are these mature fully grown trees have they a lot more browning to do? If the latter, especially if they are leylandii, then this would be a good time to restrict the upward growth by getting them lopped as well. The higher they grow the more expensive a fix will become.

Woolsery

Devongardener said:

Be careful how much you cut back conifers.  Make sure to leave a good bit of green growth as they will not shoot out again from the bare branch and you will be left with brown branches.

Yeah, but, no, but......they can look better like that, especially if you're the shaded neighbour. The next stage is red face and rapid removal.

Oh, and some will re-sprout, like Thuja plicata, but not the dreaded Leylandii, which predominates these days 

Frank99

This is the best time of year to do it so if you make a mistake it has chance to grow back during the summer.

Devon gardener is spot on in regard with if you cut into the brown it does not re-grow so less is better.

twopenny

It really does depend on the variety.

I took a hedge trimmer to mine, I knew they would regrow if I didn't cut into the wood but it was enough to keep my garden navigable and looked better with the regrowth.

Keep in mind that they produce more shoots so once started you will need to do this regularly.

That if you take the tops out and they grow they may make more than one top shoot so you'll have several 'heads' to deal with every year or two and the shape will be 'interesting'

Woolsery

As I implied, ID is crucial. Western Red Cedar is a much better tree for most owners than Cypressus leylandii, though like certain breeds of dog, in the right hands the latter can be perfectly well-behaved.

The biggest problem with tree pruning at height is safety and it often can't be solved with normal household ladders.

compfan100

Def need professionals in to cut and clear