How to Trim your Hedges

After a hedge has been planted, it is important to start trimming it to the desired shape while the plants are still young.

However, you should leave the main stem of each plant uncut until the hedge reaches the desired height. All other branches should be cut back by half their length. In order to prevent the lower branches from losing their leaves, you should cut your hedge so that the sides slope inwards from bottom to top. If this is not done, the lower part of the hedge will not receive enough light.

Once the hedge is fully grown, it must be trimmed regularly. We recommend tying a string along the planned cutting line in order to guide you so that the cut is straight. If your hedge does get out of shape, the only solution in many cases is to cut it back rigorously, but this cannot be done on all types of hedges. Conifers, in particular, react negatively if they are cut back into the old wood.

Hedges consisting of plants which lose their leaves in the winter and privet, which keeps its leaves, should receive their main cut in winter, while the vegetation is resting. A second cut can be made at the beginning of August (not before, since this would disturb any birds nesting in the hedge).

Evergreen hedges and hedges consisting of conifers should be trimmed just before the new shoots appear in the spring. Alternatively, they can be trimmed in the autumn. Only the new shoots should be trimmed, since this encourages more of the buds on the remaining wood to develop into twigs. Trimming in this manner results in a bushy hedge with provides good screening.