Hedge Trimming
Benjie
Posts: 6
We've just moved in to a new house and the hedge along the side of the garden separating the back harden from the road has now grown to a width of about a meter. This hedge gives us good privacy and fit in with the surroundings quite nicely however unfortunately it has grown a bit too big and is starting to take up room. Were thinking of cutting the hedge back a bit but we fear that this may cause the hedge to become see through but also bare since we would like to keep that privacy but also have it to fit in with the surroundings. Would it be possible to cut the hedge back whilst keeping that privacy and most importantly the greenness? If not would there be any other alternatives to overcome this problem?
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Posts
Hi. Do you know what hedge it is? Some hedges can be cut back into old wood to regenerate but not all will, so if you cut too hard you'll have bare wood.
If it's not been cut for a while it could be too much stress on it to cut it on all sides in one season. For example, it may be best to cut on one side this year, and then the other side next year, to reduce the overall width spread over two seasons/years.
Shouldn't really cut back hedges at this time of year, because birds may be nesting, leave until summer.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
To be honest i have no idea what type of hedge it is but yes i can for sure take a photo tomorrow.
I believe it's now actually illegal to cut hedges between February and June (July?) for that reason. Don't know if that applies to all hedges or whether things like privet which are less likely to have nests than a proper hedgerow are exempt.
Someone will know....
Steve
There are regulations governing the sort of work that can be done on 'countryside hedgerows' - details here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/countryside-hedgerows-regulation-and-management
This doesn't apply to garden hedges - however it is still illegal deliberately to disturb any nesting birds without a licence - so to be on the safe side it's best not to carry out hedge-trimming between February and July inclusive.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
This is what the hedge looks like
It's privet Benjie, I have one at the far end of my garden.
Mine was getting too wide so I cut it back hard 2 years ago. Hubby wasn't too happy as it looked awful, just brown and twiggy. Now it's fully greened up again.
Privet will bounce back better if you can put up with the ugly bare stage.
It was only slightly see through in the first summer as the other side was not as harshly trimmed.
Regular trimming in the summer will make it grow denser. Don't let it get top heavy, try to taper it so the top is narrower than the bottom, this helps light and water reach the bottom of the hedge.
Hope this helps