Inherited a dead hedge

[Headstand]

We moved into our new house in January and the garden has a row of what I think is ceder, very mature and well established. However at least half of it appears to be dead and the rest dying. Is there anything I can do to help bring it back or is it tree surgeon and removal time? I think it's going to cost £££ to remove and concerned it's going to damage the beds and pond around. Any advice? We're talking at least 10 trees that would need to go.

Can you post an image please?

Pictures for context

Yes, just added a couple.

Looks like they have been cut back too hard. They do take a lot of water from the ground. I'm very surprised anything with grown underneath.

Thanks @cheeseandpicklesandie it was cut back by the previous owners before we moved in. When we viewed last September it all looked great (or at least I certainly don't remember it looking like this). Frustrating.

@Headstand we moved into a property with the same thing. One huge hedge at the front is dead with no chance of revival due to being cut back and then trees on neighbours property were cut back on our side and also appear to be dying!

I agree, extremely frustrating and it looks so poor compared to other properties in the road - but not our fault 😫

It's a shame as I quite like them how they've cut the bottom ( assuming it was like that when you viewed them it was obviously working ok) I think it trimming them it has to be done each year to avoid the dead middles. It will be pain to remove, and not nice to have a big bill when moving, but they aren't that great for the soil or grass and you might get some more light.

Are you very overlooked ?? Do you need coverage ?

It looks like they have the disease, which name escapes me but it means they won’t recovery. Hopefully will know what’s it’s actually called.

@FAQs

It looks like they have the disease, which name escapes me but it means they won’t recovery. Hopefully will know what’s it’s actually called.

Oh i didn't know there was a disease, interesting. I thought generally it's not enough water that causes the yellow and being cut back to much then exposes the woody centre.

Honestly, count your blessings. They’re a massive PITA to maintain every year - we are bounded by 4x neighbours’ Leylandii hedges so we can’t get rid as not on our property, but they need regular trimming, suck up moisture and cast shade and I’d be pretty happy if my neighbours took them down!

Cut them all back and get the stumps ground and then plan for nicer screening trees instead.

Loo beyond saving imo. Could be a disease like Phytophthora ramorum, or maybe cut too hard (or both).

Mine years ago succumbed to root rot which is a fungus/disease type infection, they ended up being removed, some info here blog.davey.com/2019/01/how-to-tell-if-your-brown-yellow-or-orange-cedar-tree-is-dying/

We cut down a row like that, but left the stumps at about 5ft. DH cut them slowly one by one. Do you know anyone with a chain saw?
We nailed metal trellis to the stumps and grow climbing roses and clematis along it. We’ve underplanted with herbaceous perennials, having enriched the soil first.

Thanks everyone, sounds like the conclusion is they're either diseased or too harshly cut back or both. Yes, @cheeseandpicklesandie they look like they've previously been well looked after and look nice but clearly something has gone wrong.

@wowthisisreal at least we're in the same boat and it's not just me!

To be honest, I'm coming round to the idea that having them taken out to have more light and space may not be a bad thing anyway. We are overlooked so they provide some privacy but we can maybe add a trellis or something instead.

They do look dead but I’d give it the summer and see if you see any signs of life. Trees can surprise you.

Taking them out would provide more light though, I’m not sure what they are, but alive they are quite nice.

the garden has a row of what I think is ceder, Cypress, not cedar. Quite possibly leylandii

Thanks for the ID @mereDintofPandiculation further googling suggests you are spot on and my OH was mistaken

The dead ones will be easy to get out. We had a similar hedge which we got rid of, the lovely trunks are stored up the garden for future building projects, such as a compost frame. Just chainsaw the branches off, chainsaw them at the base, job done.

The green ones are more trouble as there's more waste to dispose of, but you can tackle the same way.

We didn't bother grinding out, the root systems are shallow, so we just took a mattock to them, severed the large roots on one side, and pulled them over.

Your fence may make that harder though.

Like so.