Question
20 years ago I planted 3 small soquel redwoods in my front yard.  They were planted 8 feet apart and looked great.  Today they are beautiful, but are about 40 feet in height and growing fast.  Will topping them destroy them?  What is the best way to "pen them in"?

Answer
The question ios what do you mean by "pen them in". Redwood normally grow pretty tall and if the space you have them in has a problem with them being tall then topping them would work BUT the tree would look like a big bush and be pretty ugly and my even die. I very rarely recommend topping and if they were mine I would not top them . Redwoods will grow in width about a 1/3 the height (if the tree is 40 feet tall then the width will be around 13-15 feet) Planted 8 feet apart will mean they have closed in and made a hedge. This is ok if that is what you had in mind. If you want to be able to see pass the trees then you could prune the lower branches off up to say 8- 10 feet up the trunk, then they would not look as crowded. In the front yard they are more than likely blocking the view of the house and you may want to prune the lower branches. The pruning can be done fairly easliy with a hand pruning saw --cut the limbs back to flush with the trunk of the tree.