Hedge cutting

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I have various hedges surrounding the garden and, apart from one, they were established before I moved in.

The beech (fagus sylvatica) hedge is my favourite and it is the one that I put in. When I moved in there was an extremely overgrown Leyland cypress hedge down this side of the garden and there was no way that this was going to survive an extreme haircut, so it was one of the first things to be removed. The beech hedge runs down one side of the water garden and has wonderful fresh leaves in spring have an added attraction of being home to various little grubs which are perfect for blue tits and great tits to feed their young. The hedge retains its brown leaves throughout the winter, aiding to screening. I have had one problem area in the beech hedge though as there is a 3 metre strip where the bare-root beech plants that I planted have died. I have tried a few times and each time the plants have died. I came to the conclusion that the ground was just too wet in the winter for the beech. So in this 3 metre strip I have planted a mixed native hedge of blackthorn (prunus spinosa, also known as sloe), hazel (corylus avelana), cherry plum (prunus cerasifera) and crab apple (malus sylvestris) and these have taken well and are now the same height as the beech hedge.

A tall Leyland cypress (cupressus leylandii) hedge runs down the other side of the water garden and is tall to provide a screen from a neighbouring property. More can be found on the dreaded Leyland cypress on my projects page.

The hedge running down the side of the main borders is comprised of escallonia then privet (ligustrum ovalifolium) hedge, and following on from these is a western red cedar (thuja plicata) conifer hedge on one of my neighbour’s property. The escallonia part of the hedge hasn’t looked happy for the last couple of years and there are lots of brambles growing within it. I gave it a good cut last autumn and will see how it goes for a couple of years. If it doesn’t look like it is recovering, then I will remove it. My neighbour’s western red cedar hedge extends behind the escallonia so there will be screening from my neighbour’s garden if I do decide to remove the escallonia.

Running behind the greenhouse and vegetable area there was a Leyland cypress hedge, however I had this removed last Autumn. Above this are electricity cables and a few years ago the electricity company came out to cut back the hedge so that it would it wouldn’t interfere with the cables (see projects page for more detail on the dreaded Leyland cypress). However, they only cut back half of the hedge and I was left with a very odd looking hedge. I got some people in to cut back the other half of the hedge and I thought all was well. However in the couple of years that followed a number of the conifer plants died and I have no idea why. This left me again with a very odd looking hedge so I took the bold decision that it had to go. The plan is that this year it will be replaced with a fence and I will train wisteria along the fence.

Along the back of the hot border I don’t have a hedge, just a picket fence. My neighbour here has various trees and shrubs and I just keep them trimmed to the fence and has high as I can reach with my hedge trimmer. This also extends along the back of the woodland border.

By the side of the property is another Leyland cypress. This was cut back by over 20 foot in 2016 – see an article on my projects page about the dreaded Leyland cypress.

In the front garden there is a laurel hedge running down one side with a holly by the side of the property, joining up with the Leyland cypress. I have to be honest and say that laurel is not my favourite plant. Yes it is evergreen so provides screening all year round. However, it is very fast growing (it is the fastest growing evergreen hedge that isn’t a conifer) and the cuttings do not compost down very quickly. Because the leaves are glossy it doesn’t succumb to weedkiller when it seeds itself in places you don’t want it. It has mixed benefits for me regarding wildlife. I have found a couple of nests in the hedge, and the bees, hoverflies, ants and wasps are attracted to the flowers. However, I have had numerous wasp nests in my attic and in my garden and I’ve been told that this was due to the laurel hedge as they like it that much. Personally if I was going to start an evergreen hedge I would chose a photinia to provide colour interest all year round.

Having the right equipment is crucial in maintaining the hedges. I have a cordless lightweight hedge trimmer from Gtech, which I love, to maintain most of my hedges. I cut my hedges once a year around August / September time when I’m sure that the birds are no longer nesting, but in time for new growth to become established before the first frosts are likely to hit. However for the tall conifer hedge I need to get people in to keep this under control as I don’t have a head for heights and this was carried out last Autumn. I only plan on having this once every 3 to 4 years as I have the wildflower area by the hedge and I don’t want this area walked over too often.

Dreaded Leyland Cypress
Vegetable Area

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