Sorry, but there is no way to get around the fact that most conifers do not come back well from bare wood.

first.. we need to know where you are ... how fast a plant recovers.. differs by zone ...

then we need to ID the plant... since cedar is a common term for a bunch of diverse plants ...

then we need to know if the cut side is on the sun side.. or all shade ...

then we need to know why this 2 feet is bugging the heck out of you .. lol ... what exactly are you going to do with this 2 feet.. .. for getting that 2 feet back... you might spend a very long time looking at some real ugly ...

finally.. a pic is worth a thousand more words ..

all that said ... it wont be a shearing thing ... more of a selective removal process ...

it might be easier .. to move...

ken

I am in Montreal.your suggestion is wise, I will trim it selectively and go from there . Thanks