To Cut or not to Cut ....

Hi Tricia

I have been looking around the internet for advice on hedging and most seem to say that new hedges with plants that are 1-2 years should be cut down to 6-10" when planted to encourage bushiness.

So I would plant now and maybe once they start to shoot out in the spring cut them down to strong shoots.

Hope that helps.

Ps I would love to have a garden where I could 'discover' parts I hardly new existed!

I can see most of mine in one go!!

Good luck with your hedge.

MP

Thanks, MP.   I can give that a try and see what happens.  Once spring comes and things start growing, I won't be able to resist going out every day to see how much they are growing -I'm already like that with the crab apple and pyracantha I've planted so far (doh!).

As to the size of my garden, it's not actually that big - it was just that the neighbour's huge laurel and sycamore, plus a laurel on my side, were growing out over my garden so much that they were hiding a strip along the boundary.  It is only about 8ft wide at the widest.  That's where I'm going to put the hedging, with maybe some small shrubs and flowers in front at a later date.

Thanks for your good wishes - I'm going out shortly to continue with the hedging prep - wonder if I can plant 50 whips in less than 3 hours?!!

Thanks, Alan.

I hadn't seen that blog showing how is hedge is now.  I hope mine ends up like that.  Did you plant a hedge in the end?

CM,Ithink you need to do some research on what to do to each individual species as for sure I think some will not tolerate cutting down to encourage bushiness,my thinking is some will tolerate it and some will die.  

The pyracantha will need some cutting back, the ones we have were left and are just open spaces inside but are a nightmare to try and cut right back.  I've tried cutting it back to encourage denser growth but it isn't an easy task (in other words - I gave up after my arms ended up shredded!).  I would cut those ones back quite harshly every few as they can be pruned back quite severely and bounce back pricklier than ever.  

Hi Sooty, I  think you are probably right - when I started planting the pack today, i noticed some plants don't look the sort that can be pruned hard this early, eg Euonymus have more than one, thick, stem.  I guess Ashridge's other mixed hedge packs don't include these plants.  I'd best check the info on all the different plants in my mix.

KT, the pyracantha got an accidental trim as I took them out of their boxes, which took off the top foot or so.  Though they are still about 6 foot high, as they have pretty good sideways growth and are going together in front of a high wooden fence, I don't think I'll cut them down any more this year.  I know what you mean about shredding your arms - next time I prune them I'll use some industrial-strength gauntlets my husband got from somewhere!   :O

Alan, I'm just the same - it took me 4 months to get round to organising this hedging.  My garden isn't very wildlife friendly though, so I wanted to get on and improve it.  Funnily enough, I was thinking of Teasel too.  wonder if I can find any that will flower this year ?

Hi Tricia and welcome to the forum from North Somerset also!

There are lots of conflicting thoughts on whether to cut a hedge back hard to encourage wildlife or whether to shy away from the clippers to keep it more wild and loose!

I know that isn't much help but it does demonstrate that there isn't really a right or wrong answer!

Some species of bird in particular will thank you for a dense hedge to give protection and nesting opportunities where as others will like a looser hedge for foraging or to escape from predators through or of course some varying height to sit and watch or even perch and sing from!

Now I'm certainly no expert but my own opinion is that you need to try and create as close to nature as you can, which unfortunately means all of the above!

The native hedge that I currently have and the one that I am continuing to develop has to serve the below purposes...

1. To be dense & bushy in places to encourage nesting and protection aswell as a strong throny boundary to the garden
2. To be 'loose' in places to encourage foraging and areas for certain species to nip in and out of and get a view of potential predators
3. To be high in places to provide high perches to sing from, watch the feeders from and selfishly give me privacy in certain areas of the garden!
4. To be low in places to provide bushier growth and of course let me see the view across open farmland!
5. To be spiky in parts for nesting and of course deter would be burglars!
6. To provide nectar rich flowers at different times of the year for bees, butterflies and other pollinators
7. To provide early spring and winter berries for hungry birds

Hi Higgy, thanks for your most useful thoughts.  I'm going to be getting on with the planting tomorrow (actually, today now lol), like you suggest I'll try to provide for some dense and some loose areas, rather than being totally random.  The hedge has no particular purpose other than to be more attractive than a fence or laurel hedge, so I don't need to think about anything other than how to make it work best for wildlife.

I don't know offhand if the Ashridge mix includes any autumn flowering shrubs, I think the blackthorn and cherry plum at least are spring flowering, and I do have an Escallonia in the bed already with I believe flowers in the Autumn.

Thanks for your offer of advice too!