Cutting hedge style for bushes
It’s the time of year for hedge trimming, so here are my top tips for doing a perfect job
As we approach the end of August, it’s a great time to give your evergreen hedges a final trim. This way you will have a fresh looking but tidy hedge through the winter.
Cutting now allows time for plants to harden off, so whether you’ve got a privet, box, leyland cypress, holly, laurel, yew, viburnum, thuja or Lawson’s cypress, here’s my handy guide. What equipment do you need? Hand-held shears if sufficiently sharp will be fine for smaller jobs and are my preferred option for jobs that require precision such as clipping box balls. However, bigger hedges will benefit from some power tools. If you are using an electric trimmer, always use an RCD – this is a circuit breaker that will automatically disconnect the electricity should you accidentally cut through the cable.
A safer option is a battery operated cordless device – these are lightweight and with lithium batteries can keep going long enough to get the job done. There are also petrol-powered trimmers but these tend to be a bit heavier. Either way, it’s a good idea to wear protective clothing for hands, ears and eyes. And put a tarp or bit of plastic down to collect the clippings which can go straight to the compost heap afterwards.
What shape do you want to achieve?
A WEDGE shape or flat topped ‘A’ shape is best for hedges – in other words, you want the base to be a bit wider than the top, so it should taper slowly inwards. This is also known as putting a ‘batter’ on a hedge. The reason for this is to allow sunlight to get to the lower part of the hedge preventing it from becoming bare stemmed. Battered hedges are also less likely to suffer snow damage.
Of course you may not want a flat top and prefer a dome shape. This is trickier to manage but a cardboard template of the shape you like is a good way to achieve this, moving the template along the top of the hedge as you proceed.
Height is another consideration
There are regulations when a solid evergreen hedge climbs over two metres as this can cause light or view deprivation to your neighbours, so keep this in mind.
If you share a boundary hedge with a neighbour both of you are responsible for its upkeep, but you aren’t allowed to clip any part of the hedge that falls on your neighbour’s side without permission.
Equally, if a neighbour’s hedge is overhanging your garden, you are entitled to remove any branches that are straying across the boundary.
Be careful when trimming conifers that you don’t cut back into old wood – they don’t rejuvenate from old wood and you’ll be left with bare patches. Yews are the exception to this rule – they can be cut back hard if you deem it necessary – but such a hard prune would be better done in spring anyway.
If you’re growing a conifer hedge and it hasn’t achieved the desired height, don’t cut the leader shoots at the top yet as this will stifle growth. Just clip the side of the hedge.
When clipping cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), you might notice that because it has large leaves, some of these get cut in half. It’s a good idea to then go over the hedge with secateurs and remove these as they will develop a black margin which spoils the look of a hedge. Finally: Remember the birds For them a hedge can be a home and a nesting place.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds recommends that hedges should be left alone between March and August as this is the main nesting season.
But it is an offence at any time of the year to intentionally destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use.