Laurel Hedge bare lower down
Hello.. new gardener here..
We recently purchased a small holding and eitherside of the drive we have laurel hedges. We think they are about 15 years old. The problem is that the lower ground to 2ft is bare with no leaves or stems (unlikely correct word).
Can I do anything to resolve this lack of growth in the lower hedge ?
Thanks in advance Jim
We recently purchased a small holding and eitherside of the drive we have laurel hedges. We think they are about 15 years old. The problem is that the lower ground to 2ft is bare with no leaves or stems (unlikely correct word).
Can I do anything to resolve this lack of growth in the lower hedge ?
Thanks in advance Jim
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Often, the bare lowers stems on any hedge are due to the way it's been trimmed.
Have you a photo?
It worked.
As @robairdmacraignil says - when the top of the hedge is wider than the base, it blocks light to those areas, but I think another problem there is that the hedge has also been cut back to the main trunk in a lot of cases, which will make it more difficult. The good news is that laurel is almost indestructible, so it will grow back
All you can do is trim the top half back a little further, to achieve the correct shape, and after about a year or so, the base should fill out a little more, giving the opposite shape of what's there just now. If you were to look at the hedge from the end, the shape you want is like an A with the top cut off. The sides should slope back in towards the top, with the base wider.
That will also mean allowing the front edge of your hedge to grow out nearer the road edge, and that might be the reason they've been cut like that. Laurels naturally want to be very big, so it's better to keep them trimmed regularly to prevent that and get good coverage