cut it to the ground.. treat the stump .. and put in a trellis.. and find that red clematis you were dreaming about ...

it probably doesnt have dormant buds.. so treating the stump is not requisite.. but if you got the goo.. why not...

it might take a hundred year to rot ... but you can work around that with perennials...

this is a perfect example .. of the planter having no clue of future potential.. and planting that small babe... two feet from the foundation.. creating a shearing nightmare for the next 20 years ... lol.. it wasnt a problem the first 5 ... if only it was planted 5 to 10 feet out from the house.. it would have been a more prime specimen ...

the alternative wouldnt have been choosing a better sized specimen.. but them one might presume bigibox didnt offer such 25 years ago ...

be done with it ....

ken

What kind of evergreen is it? If a yew (very probably), cutting it back to the ground will rarely kill it. They are one conifer that is able to regenerate - albeit very slowly - from being cut back to ground level.

But you can significantly reduce its size by hard pruning and maintain it much smaller if you wish.

If a yew (very probably), cutting it back to the ground will rarely kill it.

Yes I am pretty sure that it is some type of yew.

After I have cut it down as low as I am able I can easily deal with 'rebound' growth or suckers. That will be lots less effort than having to prune it each year at its current size.

Thanks ken, thanks 'gg'. I will cut it down once the snow is gone and the temps are a bit higher.

Late winter or very early spring before it pushes new growth is ideal. But realistically, yews can be pruned just about any time you like.

Given that I want to cut it down to the ground or there abouts it doesnt really matter when I do it.

HIre somebody to dig it out. The air circulation alone you'll get from opening up that narrow corridor will be worth it.

Hmmmm......what kind of air circulation is required in that area? I see no particular benefit for removal.

The only drawback I see for removing it is that it provides a bit of privacy for us as the neighbours go down that side of the house.

I was wondering about the privacy issue. MIght be worth starting with a hard prune to be sure that you're OK with removal.

I have some kind of yews around my front porch. They were put in 40 years ago, and while they're cut back each year, they'd creeped taller than I wanted them. I didn't want to dig them out, so I did a hard cut back to see what would happen. It was hard enough that I had more than half brown-only branches. It was so ugly I chose to lightly spray paint the branches with green camo paint (so not shiny) just so they blended in a bit more. Years later, you'd never know they were pruned.

I’m big on enclosed spaces and privacy, so I would be tempted to leave it. If not, then I would make a crazy ass topiary, just because :-)

So, have you decided, Rouge. For myself, I am of the chop it down school. When we stop celebrating and enjoying our plants, it is maybe time to make a change and try something different. Especially when living in a garden with limited space. I accept I cannot grow every plant I fancy...but I am quick to take any opportunity for change. Horses for courses - there will be people who are horrified at the idea of removing a perfectly good plant because bored.

Which way are you going to jump?

@rosaprimula UK (Cambridge) Z8/9, I have not decided. I for sure was leaning towards the "chop it down school" but the pendulum is moving back towards the privacy consideration as mentioned most recently by @LaLennoxa 6a/b Hamilton ON.

So now I am 'waffling', trying to keep my foot in both camps. Specifically, look at my potential prune line and so maybe I can cut it back by about half (all to the right of the red/orange line).

I know if this was a hedge made up of cedars, such a drastic prune would not be good as the green foliage would never regrow. But is this true as well for this evergreen, this...Yew? Can I cut it back this hard and the cut right side will again fill in with evergreen foliage?

(Here is what the lower part of this Yew looks like nearer the ground. And so the best I could do myself would be to cut it back to maybe a foot from the ground and so it isn't as if I could plant anything there instead subsequent to the cut down.)

Rouge, I'd also leave the shrub be to maintain privacy of the sitting area and not be seeing the neighbor's blank wall. Go ahead and reduce as you have shown, as it has been mentioned, yews will regenerate from such a hard pruning, will take some time to again fill back in, though ruth_mi has a good suggestion of using green spray on the exposed brown stems.

Thanks all for the input. It has helped.

When the weather is consistently warm and dry I will do a severe trim and see how that looks.

I used to do a lot of quite hard pruning, Rouge, and usually tried to do it over a couple of seasons. You can chop a yew to the bone, on one side of a hedge, while the other side continues to photosynthesise and feed the shrub. The cut branches will green up and regrow over a season and next year, you can repeat the process on the other side. So yeah, have a go at some drastic pruning because you can keep a hand in both camps. Best of luck.

eta - obvs, there are a few woodies which resent hard pruning and will not regenerate from old wood. (the horrid Leylandii, for example)..but you find this out pretty quickly, then the decision is made for you. Simple. hey?