hey scotty ....

hard to tell without a picture ...

i think you hit the nail on the head with the diagnosis of lack of sunshine .. how the pruning of the neighbors trees will affect your plants is up in the air ... so the only answer.. short of a picture might well be.. lets see how the change in the amount of light will help or hinder regeneration of the plants ...

severe increase in sunlight.. might lead to some burning issues ... but replacement growth will be fully acclimated to the new situation ... all conifers shed their needles.. sooner or later.. so dont freak out if you see more in the next year or two .. depending on how bad winter is ...

you may want to consider ... starting a new row of the plants ... so that in 5 years.. they are ready to replace the older one ... should they not recover in a manner which is pleasing to your aesthetic .... in other words ... start your new screen now.. in case your just get uglier ...

there is nothing worse than relying on hope ... and wasting a lot of time.. only to fail ... a failsafe.. if you will ...

good luck

post a pic if you can..

ken

Thanks for the thoughts, Ken. Regarding the sunshine, the neighbor actually CUT DOWN all those maples, plenty of sunshine now. So much so, that as you mentioned, I was wondering if they might go into some sort of "shock". Better the shade trees went away during the winter than the middle of the growing season I suppose.
So I ran out between the raindrops and took a few pix.

{{gwi:675685}}

And another:

{{gwi:675687}}

mulch them.. keep them properly watered.. and see what happens over the next year or two ..

i would NOT go cutting on them at this point ...

man.. i wish the maple guy lived next door to me.. i would be buried in a ton of free mulch and fire wood.. the only two things maples are good for .... lol

good luck

ken

Scotty, while only time will tell for sure, I think you WILL see improvement in the arbs. The species-a forest tree-is known to be intermediate in shade tolerance. Plants in this designation often have the ability to grow slowly for years while shaded out by other larger trees, only to kick into high gear when a disturbance of some type removes the overhead competition. Good luck.

+oM

Pitch em! Get a good cultivar like 'Hetz Wintergreen' and you'll be in great shape in a very almost "perfect" period of time. It's the ultimate screener for width control, snow, aestetics, and height.

Best Regards,

Dax