Hedge Maintenance: How To Keep Your Hedges Healthy

Hedges are essentially living walls. They can act as windbreaks and privacy screens, while also serving as beautiful natural features and potentially supporting wildlife like birds and butterflies. A beautiful hedge can also make your home more attractive and boost its value – provided that it is well maintained. Without regular upkeep, hedges can become overgrown, or contrastingly develop issues that stunt their growth. This post offers a few tips that can help you to keep your hedges healthy.

What tools do you need to maintain a hedge?

Good hedge maintenance requires having the right tools. Some of the tools you need to maintain a hedge include:

• Shears: These are big scissors that are essential for trimming and shaping hedges.
• Loppers: These are heavy-duty shears with a long handle that are excellent for cutting branches and taller hedges.
• Saws: Cutting through some very thick branches may require a saw.
• Power tools: Power tools such as electric shears or a chain saw can make light work of hedge maintenance.
• Gloves: Make sure you have a thick pair of gloves for protecting your hands while handling hedge cuttings and tools.
• Hose/watering can: These are essential tools for encouraging growth after cutting or during dry spells.
• Rake/broom: For tidying up cuttings, you’ll need either a rake or a broom, depending on whether the hedge is next to grass or hard ground.
• Waste bags: These can be used to place cuttings in, which you can then dump in a bin or in a compost heap.

What type of plant is your hedge made of?

Hedge maintenance requirements depend on the type of plant your hedge is made from. Some of the popular shrubs used to build hedges include boxwood, privet, laurel, holly, yew and hornbeam. While there are many different species of plants – each with their own unique properties – most of these plants can be sorted into one of three categories:

Evergreen leafy hedges

These hedges remain green and leafy all year round. They can benefit from being trimmed back once per year. More frequent delicate pruning can help to keep them in shape.

Deciduous leafy hedges

These hedges lose their leaves in the winter. They can often require two annual trims, plus you will need to rake up fallen leaves once it reaches Fall.

Flowering hedges

Flowering hedges can be evergreen or deciduous. Their added flower growth often means that they require more maintenance – it’s important to take care when trimming them if flowers are in bloom and you may need to use fertilizer on them to stimulate flower growth.

What type of soil is your hedge growing in?

Some types of plants may grow better in certain types of soil. Generally though, it’s important to prevent the soil getting too dry or too wet when growing a hedge, as this will negatively affect growth.

Soils prone to drought include sandy soils and chalky soils. These soils may require more frequent watering, although adding mulch and wetting agents can help them to retain water longer.

Clay soil is meanwhile prone to waterlogging. Adding mulch can similarly help to prevent this, while adding gypsum can also help.

When should you trim your hedge?

The best time to trim back an evergreen hedge is usually late Winter/earlySpring (February/March). This encourages healthy regrowth in Spring. Avoid trimming an evergreen hedge during bird nesting season, or in early winter when it may be more delicate.

Deciduous hedges should ideally be trimmed twice per year – once in late Winter/early Spring (February/March), and once in late Summer (August/September). The first cut should be done before leaves start growing back (which can promote neat and healthy leaf regrowth), while the second should be done just before leaves start falling off (which can limit mess from fallen leaves). As with evergreen hedges, avoid trimming these hedges when birds are nesting in them.

With flowering hedges, avoid pruning while flowers are in bloom. That said, feel free to snip off any dead flowers.

When should you water your hedge?

Most hedges are fairly resilient and may not require much watering. It’s mainly summer dry spells that you need to watch out for. Sprinkle your hedges with a watering can or use a hose if the soil is getting dry or the leaves are starting to look unhealthy.

Newly-planted hedges may benefit from more frequent watering to help with growth. However, don’t let the soil get too wet and boggy as this will damage growth.

What are some other useful hedge maintenance tips?

Hedges can sometimes require more than watering and trimming. It is important to inspect them for other issues like pests and fungal disease.

• Notice an infestation of bugs on your hedge? These pests may need to be sprayed with a pesticide to stop them from destroying your hedge. Aphids, caterpillars and weevils are some of the prime suspects to look out for.
• Fungal diseases like box blight and powdery mildew can also damage your hedge. Inspect your hedge leaves for discoloration, spots or steaks. You can buy specially designed fungicides for plants.
• In Winter,  frost and snow can be a danger to a particularly young or old hedge. It’s a good idea to shake away snow after a period of heavy snowfall. During very cold periods, it’s also possible to protect hedges by wrapping them in tarpaulin overnight.
• Avoid placing heat sources too close to hedges. Barbecues and chimineas could damage leaves – or worse cause a fire during a drought.

Conclusion

Hedges don’t need as much maintenance as lawns and can be left to their own devices for most of the year. However, an annual or bi-annual trim (depending on whether your hedge is evergreen or deciduous) is recommended, plus it is important to water hedges during a heatwave. Occasionally inspecting hedges for other issues like pests and fungal issues is also worthwhile. Of course, if you want a perfectly sculpted lush-and-leafy hedge, you’ll need to consider more regular pruning and watering and inspections to keep it looking perfect.