Arborvitae Regrowth After Trimming?

[SDD]

Our gardening service brought out an unskilled pruner to our yard last week and while we weren't watching they decided to cut every branch off the bottom 12" of 19 Arborvitae (see picture attached) bordering our property. Obviously we can't glue them back on, but as you can see in the picture the plan of having a privacy hedge has been compromised. Before that they were beautiful, no dead branches.

Our question is, with time will there eventually be new growth filling in those gaps or is this really unrecoverable damage? Thanks!

 

[Silentrunning]

Arborvitae aren’t great at back budding. All is not lost though. You could plant a shade tolerant, fast growing plant between each tree to fill in the vacant space. With a complimentary plant you could make a very attractive addition to your property.