Cut to suit the hedge
Different hedges need different treatment. Cutting everything the same way, at the same time, is how hedges end up patchy, brown or bare.
- Yew
- Cuts cleanly and regrows from old wood, so even a badly overgrown yew can be brought back. Clipped once, late summer into early autumn.
- Beech & hornbeam
- Cut in late summer and they hold their brown leaves through winter, so you keep your screening all year.
- Privet & Lonicera
- Fast growers. Two or three trims a year keep them dense.
- Laurel
- Big leaves tear and brown when they're sheared. Where it's on show, it's cut with secateurs or hand shears.
- Leylandii
- Never cut back into brown wood. It won't regrow, which is why so many overgrown conifer hedges can't be rescued. Little and often is the only way.
- Box
- Prone to box blight and box tree caterpillar. Cut in dry weather, with clean tools, and checked for both.
Wider at the base
A hedge cut with a slight taper, wider at the bottom than the top, lets light reach its lower branches. Hedges cut straight-sided or top-heavy shade their own base and go bare from the bottom up. It's a small thing that makes a hedge last decades longer.
Reductions and renovation
Overgrown hedges can often be brought back, but it's done in stages. Most deciduous hedges and yew can be cut hard on one side one year and the other side the next, so the plant always has enough leaf to recover. Deciduous hedges are renovated in winter while they're dormant. Evergreens such as yew are best renovated in mid-spring, after a careful check for nests.
Nesting birds
All wild birds' nests are protected by law while they're being built or in use, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The main nesting season runs from March to the end of August. Before any cutting in that period, the hedge is checked properly, and hard cutting waits until autumn or winter.
Topiary
Balls, cones, domes and cloud-pruned shapes in yew, box, Ilex crenata, Lonicera or privet. I maintain existing topiary, restore shapes that have been lost, and start new pieces for clients who are happy to wait a few years for them.
New hedges
The cheapest and best way to plant a new hedge is bare-root, between November and March. A native mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, field maple and dog rose makes the best wildlife hedge. Beech, hornbeam and yew make the best formal ones.
What's included
- Cutting and shaping, with a taper to keep the base thick
- Height and width reductions
- Checks for nests and for box blight
- All clippings cleared and taken away
- Topiary clipping, restoration and new shapes
- New hedge planting in the bare-root season
Questions
When should my hedge be cut?
For most formal hedges, once in late summer or early autumn. Fast growers such as privet need an extra trim in early summer, after a check for nesting birds.
Can you cut tall hedges?
Yes, with proper access equipment. Very tall hedges, and hedges next to roads, are priced after a site visit.
Do you take the clippings away?
Yes. Clearing up is part of the job, not an extra.
Can you save my overgrown conifer hedge?
It depends on the conifer. Yew can almost always be saved. Leylandii and Lawson cypress won't regrow from brown wood, so if the green layer has gone, the honest answer may be to replace it.
