Hedge cutting / trimming – Tidy Gardens

When it comes to hedge maintenance, regular hedge cutting / trimming is the single most important thing to do. Regular hedge trim will make your hedge compact and thick right from the bottom.

Why plant a hedge?

Hedge can be a perfect garden boundary, but the wrong one may give you troubles.

• hedges provide shelter.
• They dumpen noises, reduce strong winds
• The obvious they give you privacy.
• security but not all hedges. Thorny, prickly varieties like for example:

Common holly

Firethorn

Blackthorn

Barberry

Buckthorn

• some hedging plants like photinia give you a beautiful seasonal change.
• hedge supports wildlife. Birds love nesting in them as well as eating some berries.
• unlike wooden fences, hedges won’t need replacing for many many years and they don’t require anything more than regular hedge cutting.

I can’t stress that too much.
Hedges need your commitment to regular hedge cutting / trimming.

All types of hedging need at least one hedge cut a year. Some varieties more than one.
A regular light prune is much better for you and your hedge then an occasional heavy cut.
Power tools do a quick job if done regularly. High and overgrown hedges often need costly specialist equipment or professional help
to get them back into shape.

You can avoid a lot of problems in future if you choose the right hedging plants for your boundary.

Hedge planting – the right choice.

The many benefits of growing hedges on your boundary depend on selecting the right plants for the situation. If you choose an unsuitable variety you could be faced with a range of problems, especially if the hedge grows too big. It will be difficult to trim and may cut out light to your garden or house.

• Its roots could deprive other plants of water and nutrients, and even interfere with paths and buildings.
• Oversize hedges will intrude on your garden space, and may cause problems with neighbours.
• Oversize hedges can be costly and time consuming to cut back and most conifers, including Leyland and Lawson’s cypress, will not tolerate hard pruning.
• If the hedge borders a road or path the local authority could get involved, and insist the hedge is cut back.

Luckily there is a wide range of plants available so it’s not difficult to achieve an attractive healthy hedge – one which will take only as much upkeep as you can manage, and create an attractive feature in your neighbourhood, not a bone of contention.

	Growth rate	hedge cutting – how often	Size if unpruned	Foliage	Prickly?
Beech	xxx	Once	Large tree	D/LL	No
Berberis	xx	Once	Large shrub	E	Yes
Cherry laurel	xx	Once	Large shrub	E	No
Cotoneaster	xx	Once	Large shrub	E	No
Escallonia	xx	Twice	Large shrub	E	No
Firethorn	xx	Twice	Large shrub	E	Yes
Hawthorn	xxx	Twice	Small tree	D	Yes
Hazel	xxx	Once	Small tree	D	No
Holly	x	Once	Small tree	E	Yes
Hornbeam	xx	Once	Large tree	D/LL	No
Lawsons cypress	xx	Twice	Large tree	E Conifer	No
Leyland cypress	xxx	Twice	Large tree	E Conifer	No
Portugal laurel	x	Once	Large shrub	E	No
Privet	xx	Three	Large shrub	E	No
Rose	xx	Once	Large shrub	D	Yes
Western red cedar	xx	Twice	Large tree	E Conifer	No
Yew	x	Once	Large tree	E Conifer	No

Key:

Growth rate, for established plants
xxx – over 60cm/year
xx – 30-60cm/year
x – 15-30cm/year

Foliage:
D – deciduous
LL – dead leaves held in winter
E – evergreen

My favourite hedging plant has to be YEW ( taxus )
Classic choice but everlasting and makes an excellent hedge. Doesnt need that much hedge cutting either.

Tidy Gardens can trim/prune most of hedges, but if you are that lucky and have spectacular yew like on a picture above then DON’T call us. Call for a crane ! 🙂