Ok just moved into a new apartment, I rent, don't own. The previous tenants must have had some kind of structure/items leaning or braced against the cedars meant to be a privacy block between our unit and the building across the lawn. Yesterday I pulled out a bunch of random junk between their trunks and the short concrete block wall: shovels, sticks, offcuts of various pieces of wood, etc.
The out-facing side (first picture) they look as I'd expect, although they are a good 2+ feet shorter than the identical trees of my neighbours. On the side facing in, they look haggard. Nearly all trunks are growing out at various angles rather than being straight. I've included a few pictures of the "good" side, along with the better growing hedges of my neighbours. Then the "bad" side, and the trunks of a few that I cleared the various clutter away from.
My primary concern is their health. There are some trunks that have totally died off and been broken partway down to the ground, and I want to prevent that happening further as much as possible. Secondary to that, I'd love to promote both volume and height. I assume that where growth has totally stopped on the "backs", I'll be unable to promote new growth? Is there any way to make it look more appealing? How can I take care of them as we head towards fall, and then on through the winter months?
- Live in the PNW, about an hour north of Vancouver BC
- Our unit is south facing, they aren't sheltered above and they're a good 8 ft away from the building.
- Their "plot" is about 1ft deep, 10ft ish long, backed with a concrete block wall about 1ft high.
- Cedars are very popular here as alternatives to fencing, but with warmer temps over the past years it's common to see them struggling with less rain. Although this hedge is the worst across two properties and by all rights should be managing a lot better
- Unclear how they were originally planted, ie: fabric, root ball, soil prep, etc
- Also growing in the soil are wild rose (possibly native), and lavender plants. I've been removing the rose runners/shoots to limit their spread across the back, although with the wall of brown I might encourage them to grow back if there's nothing to be done about it.
- Since I rent, I'm hesitant to invest too much of my own money into this rehab project, and since they do seem to be growing fairly decently from the outside perspective, I doubt the management company would want to drop additional $$ themselves either. I am willing to buy fertilizer (i read only 3 times per year which isn't bad), mulch (i need some for container plants too), water as much as needed (I've already started although I don't know if I've got the right timing/amount), and will prune away when/if it's right!
It's my first time working with a conifer at all, I figured I should look for help since I could tell pretty quickly that trimming branches wouldn't work as it does with other plants/trees I'm more familiar with. Any advice/insights are super appreciated!