Sometimes — and it is decided by one thing you can check yourself in two minutes, before you speak to anybody. Reading this first will tell you whether the quotes you are about to collect are for something achievable.
The rule
Yew is the exception — a conifer that does reshoot from old wood, which is why it has been used for hedging and topiary for centuries. If you have a yew, almost everything below does not apply to you and the news is good.
The check
Push a hand into the foliage and find how far in the green goes before it turns brown. Do it in several places, top and sides, because they differ.
| Green depth | What is realistic |
|---|---|
| 18in or more | Substantial reduction available |
| 9–18in | A useful reduction, especially on the upper crown |
| 4–9in | A light trim rather than a reduction |
| Under 4in | Reduction not really available |
On a specimen conifer, as opposed to a hedge, the green is usually deepest on the outer branches and shallowest close to the trunk. Which means the achievable reduction is a proportion of each branch rather than a target height — worth understanding when a contractor talks about what is possible.
What reduction on a conifer actually looks like
Different from a broadleaf. On an oak or a lime, the crown is reduced by cutting back to suitable side branches and the tree keeps a natural outline. On a conifer there are far fewer usable growth points, so the result is more of a clipped shape than a natural one.
That is worth knowing before you commit, because some people are perfectly happy with it and others are not. A large reduced conifer looks tidy and controlled rather than graceful.
Taking the top out
A specific case worth covering, because it is often what people actually want. Removing the top of a conifer to reduce its height is possible and it does work in the sense that the tree stops being as tall.
What it does not do is look natural. A conifer's shape depends on its leading shoot, and once that goes the tree grows a flat or multi-headed top rather than a point. It also tends to widen afterwards, since the energy goes sideways instead of up.
So it is a legitimate option, but it is a permanent change in the tree's appearance rather than a trim. Worth being clear-eyed about.
When removal is the honest recommendation
- The green is a thin shell over bare wood throughout.
- The tree is close to a building and reduction would not change that.
- It is one of several in a row and the group is simply too big for the plot.
- It has already been topped and looks wrong, and further work will not improve it.
- It is shading the entire garden and only removal changes that.
Large conifers are frequently planted in the wrong place — sold as a small specimen and reaching sixty feet — and there is no shame in concluding that one of them does not belong. Better to hear that plainly than pay for a reduction that cannot deliver.
The permission question
Conifers get Tree Preservation Orders less often than broadleaves, but "less often" is not "never", particularly where a mature specimen is prominent in a street scene. And within Leominster's conservation area the six-week notice to Herefordshire Council applies to any tree regardless of species.
The size exemption in a conservation area is stems under 75mm measured 1.5m up — which will not cover any conifer worth calling large. TPO trees have no size exemption at all.
Not sure if your conifer can be saved?
Tell us what it is and roughly how big. We'll tell you straight whether reduction is possible before quoting.
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