Topping cedars.

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timtune

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I have a tall cedars at each front corner of the house. I have a problem with squirrels making a nest between my asphalt shingles and the solar panels.

I think the squirrels are using the cedars as a ladder up to the roof. I hate the thought of nixxing the cedars completely. Is there any way to lop off 6-8 feet without them looking hacked up and dead near the top?
 
I cut the top off cedars that are ladders to my roof. When they are that close to the house, there is no good solution. If they are taller than the eaves, they don't look great, if they are shorter, they don't look great. I cut them ~12" below eaves. They have grown and I need to do it again this year.

As for solar panel critters, you want critter guard around them to seal that gap. Animal/bird crap/piss beats up your shingles. Critter guard should permanently fix the problem.
 
I have a similar issue with some conifers. I lopped off the tops and then started shaping the sides slowly over the past few years to create a more boxed hedge than tapered tree shapes. The trick is not to butcher the sides at one time or you can end up with dead growth areas that don’t really grow back well. It may be similar with cedars.

I did briefly consider coating the trunk in aluminum foil and attaching that to the mains electricity but that’s only because the squirrels were busy ruining parts of my garden that year.
 
The only problem with topping them, the branches will grow out wide and not up.

Yes, cutting the top (topping) of a cedar tree or hedge will encourage it to grow wider and become bushier because the energy previously used for vertical growth is redirected to side branches. While it fills out laterally, topping often causes the top to become denser or appear flat-topped, and it stops significant upward growth. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
 
timtune said:
Squeeze was reading that squirrels can scamper up on the roof pretty much with or without the cedars. Now I'm not sure topping will help with the original problem.
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The rodents have no problem climbing stucco and brick on my house. I haven't seen them hang from the soffit and climb around the eavestrough but I wouldn't be surprised if they can.
 
timtune said:
I have a tall cedars at each front corner of the house. I have a problem with squirrels making a nest between my asphalt shingles and the solar panels.

I think the squirrels are using the cedars as a ladder up to the roof. I hate the thought of nixxing the cedars completely. Is there any way to lop off 6-8 feet without them looking hacked up and dead near the top?
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You'll have to watch them to find out how they are getting up there.

I have a neighbour 2 houses down and it's a big 2 story, with not too many trees around it, but somehow I still see squirrels running around the roof.
 
timtune said:
I have a tall cedars at each front corner of the house. I have a problem with squirrels making a nest between my asphalt shingles and the solar panels.

I think the squirrels are using the cedars as a ladder up to the roof. I hate the thought of nixxing the cedars completely. Is there any way to lop off 6-8 feet without them looking hacked up and dead near the top?
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There are numerous species of cedars, one of the most common being referred to as swamp cedar. It's popular partly because of price.

It is important to know how the different species want to grow.

Emerald cedars grow vertical in a very pointed shape and don't spread too much.

Skybound are similar but are less pointed, shaped like an ear of corn.

Swamp cedars grow like bushes and only stay as hedges with constant trimming. Only the exterior branches have greenery so extreme cutting leaves them looking dead.

If topped by a few feet the top will look dead for years. I can see a neighbours hedge and the transformation when they did a major cutback. However since I'm the only person with that particular view it didn't matter.

Our swamp hedge is getting gripped out in a week or so because the got too overgrown and wide. Both my adjoining neighbour and myself are losing six feet of backyard. It'll get replaced with a fence and select varieties of greenery.

YouTube has good articles on the subject. "Trimming cedar hedges"
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