cedar is 2 feet from the house.can i remove top portion of entire tree, leaving 1-2 feet of all crown branches? will the tree survive ?
Thank you for contacting Toronto Master Gardeners.
The main thing to remember when pruning Cedars is that new growth does not sprout from old wood. If you cut back past the green growth the bare branches will stay brown.
By topping your tree the trunk and inner bare branches will stay as they are and not sprout new growth. Without seeing the condition of your cedar it is hard to predict if it will survive. If the lower portion is healthy it may grow on but its structure will not grow back to what it is today and may look awkward.
There are several posts on this site which discuss the pruning of Cedars so I have included the link below for you. https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/?s=cedars
Good Luck.