Quote from Lee Garden Ninja on 25th March 2026, 5:50 pm

Hi Michelle,

What a lovely question, and it's great that you want to keep the tree rather than remove it. Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) is a beautiful conifer, and the drooping leader at the top is completely characteristic of the species, so you've almost certainly identified it correctly.

The good news is that your instincts are already sound. You're absolutely right that you can only work with the soft, pliable green growth and must never cut back into the older brown wood behind it. This is the golden rule with virtually all conifers. Unlike most garden shrubs that will happily regenerate from old stems, conifers simply do not do this. Cut back past the green and you'll be left with a permanent brown patch that will never recover. I'd encourage you to have a read of my full conifer pruning guide before picking up any tools, as it covers exactly how to identify where your safe cutting zone is.

Because you mention it has previously been tiered and grown out of shape, the approach I'd suggest is a gentle tidy rather than any dramatic reshaping in one go. Work around the outer edges of the green growth, removing perhaps a third of the current season's growth at most, and do this gradually over two or three sessions across the spring and summer rather than all at once. Early spring through to August is your window while the tree is actively growing and can recover quickly from cuts. Avoid trimming in winter.

One important warning: please be very careful and take your time. Without seeing a photo, it's impossible to assess exactly how much green growth you have to work with versus how close the brown wood is to the surface. If the green layer is quite thin in places, there may be very little margin for error. Go slowly, step back frequently to assess your progress, and when in doubt, leave it. A slightly unruly conifer is far better than a permanently brown one.

On the tiering question, it can work well as a styling approach but only if the tiers are formed by removing entire branches cleanly from the trunk rather than by cutting into the foliage itself. If you're not confident about this, it may be worth consulting a qualified arborist for the initial shaping work, then maintaining it yourself going forward.

The birds will thank you for keeping it. These trees are genuinely valuable wildlife habitat, and it sounds like yours is well established. You might also find these related forum discussions helpful:

Huge conifer tree | Unruly conifers | Will my conifer grow back? | Dying conifers turning brown

Do let us know how you get on, and if you can get those photos reduced in size and uploaded I'd be happy to take a closer look.

Lee Garden Ninja — Garden Ninja

Quote from [email protected] on 29th March 2026, 2:29 pm

Hi Lee,

Thank you for the advice, this is great.

I have managed to compress the photos, please see attached.

i will check the suggested forum titles.

Kind Regards,

Michelle

Quote from Lee Garden Ninja on 2nd April 2026, 8:18 am

Hi @briannicholls68gmail-com

Thanks for uploading those conifer pics. I'd defo go slow and take off a small amount of the fresh green growth first. I wouldn't recommend trying anything significant or a complete reshaping, as I think you will defo end up with dead brown bits emerging!

All the best

Lee Garden Ninja