One of the fernlike foliage spray type cultivars of Hinoki cypress.

If it bothers you cut it down. I did a lot of streamlining my landscape by removing a tree and plantings. I had this unsightly weeping birch tree in the middle of my lawn that I cut down, and hosta plants lining my entire long driveway that I also removed. I am sooo happy I did it too.

That's WAY too big to transplant even if you could get enough of the roots out to do it which you can't because of its proximity to the structure and the sidewalk.

If it was mine I would cut it down at ground level and be done with it.

I took out several similar sized conifers that were damaged by this winter's ice storm and they are heavier than you think. We did excavate down a bit and took out some roots using a combination of old saws and loppers we aren't afraid to use in dirt but we were similarly constricted by structures and hardscape, so didn't remove as much of the roots as I would have liked. Still, we got enough that I feel OK about planting something in the spot. Just depends on how well you can wrangle a shovel and how much elbow grease you have on hand.

Life is too short and garden space too precious to keep a tree or plant that annoys you. Get rid of it guilt free!

inherited it.. or it came with the new house ..

if new house.. you probably changed out the carpet .. so change out the landscaping ..... be done with it ..

20 hours of intense heavy physical labor is not worth a plant you can buy.. small.. for 25$ ....with high odds of death ...

be done with it ..

and probably the same with the pungens down past it.. .. and if that left just the two box [whatever they are...] .. i might just get rid of those two ... though they might move much easier ...

these plants might have been planted when the house was built ... with no real concept of there huge potential size.. and then sheared annually within an inch of the lives ... this and the pungens.. are conifers.. which are trees .. though it might be done.. moving 25 to 30 year old trees isnt easy.. in any sense of the word ...

if you do remove ... and want suggestions ... let us know ... but since the bed inside the walk is so small .. you might be better off in the perennial forum ...

work smart.. not hard ... or pull out the checkbook ... which i guess is working smart ..

ken

Bob F, whether or not you can move your Hinoki cypress depends on how this question is answered: "Are we men or mice?"

Professionals are virtually unrepresented on these forums. The reality is shrubs like yours are dug and moved all the time. Get your materials together, take your time, assuming you are able-bodied you can do it. The time of year is perfect. THIS post from the professionals forum shows you how.

I wonder, is there any hope of artistically pruning it, so it looks like a bonsai tree?

It is one thing to try to dig and move a mature, established tree in an open area and quite another to attempt the same in a very confined space as indicated by the photos. A lot of the root system will be under the walkway and difficult if not impossible to access. You are going to lose a LOT of roots and the transplant will be seriously compromised. And the tree has been so malpruned over the years that its current state does not encourage the effort involved in saving.

Does anyone remember the Yaupon Holly thread? The plants had been meatballed. The OP did something extremely rare here, after 6 years we got an update and it was great. As for digging the Hinoki Cypress only Bob F can answer whether he is up to the task.

The "disposable mindset" society is one so entirely alien to me. Hinoki Cypress is a hi value shrub. If I were running a landscape crew (and I am not) and the owner didn't want the plant I would dig it, take it back home, grow it out and resell it after a few years.

Propagating, pruning and transplanting of woody plants is different from herbaceous plants, whether the plant can be moved is a men or mice question.

Agree that this specimen is plenty small enough to move. And with enough exposed bed around it to make it adequately accessible. But also that - yes - this assumes the involvement of somebody with the experience, equipment and patience to do it.

...and a friend or two to help lift it. Still iffy as to if it makes it but if the alternative is cutting it down...

tj

A mouse with patience. That was a mighty fine tutorial on BB of woodies though. Labor costs are a big factor to consider when asking a landscape crew to do it.

So says the man who is doing a plant rescue/heeling in pre-construction tomorrow of a mostly herbaceous bed with three shrubs that need moving. Two Rose of Sharon and one deciduous azalea. I said no to the Japanese maple. It will have to suffer what ever fate awaits it.

well sorry for the delay I got my covid shot and been laid up for almost a week so much for not having reactions to the shots I guess!

Okay so I guess I need some tips on chopping it down. It sounds like I won't be removing the roots. How much is enough? Obviously you don't want to stumps sitting there! I assume I dig around them and get some kind of a saw and cut them off below the ground. Will anything take root in this area though?

...and I like my boxelders I don't plan on getting rid of them! What might be a good substitute to put in cypress's place?

well finally back after my covid shot and bad reaction to it. I also noticed my one post never appeared.

anyway it appears to consensus is I should cut this sucker down. the question is to what extent. obviously you don't want to leave tree trunks sticking up. I guess the idea is to dig around them and cut them off below the surface of the dirt and maybe remove whatever Roots I can? I guess then the question would be what is suitable to put in its place considering I'd like to keep my box elders.

it feels like I'll need something with roots that are able to take root around the existing roots so to speak....

Cut it off about 3' high. Remove all the lower branches leaving the trunks. Get a sharp shovel, dig the thing up and throw it away. The bare trunks are your leverage for snapping any roots the shovel misses.

A sawzall works great for cutting out roots. I use mine all the time to cut tree roots.

.... and thoughts on what I might replace it with perhaps something gets a little taller but doesn't get full enough to cast a shadow on everything planted to the left of it. or perhaps something shorter what do you think

I don't think your idea about the shadow to the left interfering with plants to that side is based on anything that is actually happening. I don't see what you are talking about in your pictures and if this were a normally significant problem acceptable foundation plantings involving different plant heights would not be present on thousands of other properties.