Bush trimming question

[cbr9joe]

Well I have lost the battle of reason and am now forced into trimming 12 taxis bushes. Here is my problem.....They are all overgrown. They are about 47 inches high and about 50 inches wide. They want them trimmed to 25 inches by 25 inches. I have explained that this will make them very ugly and will probably kill them. I have tried to get them to let me cut them back slightly now and a little more aggressive in the fall. No success, the resident of the condo unit, a retired school teacher, says they will be just fine. So now to my question.... What manor would you suggest using to trim in order to help insure their survival?

[SILVERSTREAK INC]

chainsaw them, then use a hand saw to clean up the limbs and clean up the cuts.

you could try loppers but being how big they are you prolly wouldnt have much luck

and any hedge trimmers are useless to stuff past 1/2", youll just end up breaking them

its hit and miss, some might die, ive seen some pretty severly trimmed yews come back and some in the same row not

try using ornamental fert right after pruning and routinely after

[tilawn]

they should be fine but they will rtake approximately 12 months to green back up if not more

[PerfectEarth]

Also, make sure you're able to throw the water to them after such a hard pruning. I hate when people want an old shrub like this pruned back.