Hedges and shrubs, what type & how to maintain

[Bob]

Garden Hedges mark boundaries for property, walks and drives, they make good fences and serve as windbreaks or prevent snow drifts and provide privacy. Hedges need time to establish and also need maintaining to keep them tidy and attractive,they require annual pruning. Rapid growing plants like privet hedge need pruning and cutting more often. Evergreen hedges maintain their foliage all year, they are therefore useful as windbreaks during the winter months, however, if not properly located in the right area evergreen hedges can cause snow to accumulate on the driveway or paths.

Your growing hedge needs to be trimmed, cut and trained during establishment if you want to have a tidy, functional and attractive hedge. Garden hedges with insufficient base branches as well as V-shaped hedges are caudes by not paying attention to this while your young hedge is growing. Immediately after planting your hedge, cut back to 6 to 8 inches above the soil line, this is done to develop branching density, near the base of the hedge. While a variety of hedge shapes or forms are possible, it is necessary to have the base wider than the top, this allows the lower portion of the hedge to receive adequate sunlight for the hedge to remain healthy. Proper trimming and cutting of the hedge can help develop the desired form and density. When the hedge branches grow 12 inches, cut the new growth back to 6 inches. Continue with this method until the hedge reaches the height you require. This will be a slow process and can take many years, but keep on top of this with the correct machinery and it is all worth it.

Once your hedge has become established, your hedge should be treated to two shearings a year, Quick growing plants like privet require four to six shearings a season. Each time six inches of new hedge growth occurs, remove two-thirds of this growth. Narrow-leaved evergreen hedges require less training and pruning than deciduous hedges, but just like a deciduous hedge, adequate density and the correct form is essential. Don't prune back to wood that lacks foliage, especially with Junipers, because new buds will not develop on this wood. For pines, cut only into new growth when new needles are the same size and colour as old needles.

Cut and trim deciduous woody plants during their dormant season and spring-flowering ones immediately after they bloom. Prune fruit trees in their dormant season and in the summer and evergreens in the spring.

Before you start to prune, look at your tree or shrub, take note of its shape and visualize what shape it should be. You'll need sharp lopping shears and possibly a handsaw, depending on the size of the plant. Remove canes that have sprouted directly from the roots of the tree, one way to do this is to fetch them out with a hoe. In addition to being unsightly, rapid growing shoots that appear along the larger branches of fruit trees and some shade trees, can drain vigor from a tree. Lop off each sprout, cutting back to the branch to which it's attached, leaving just a bit of wood on the branch. This thins out the tree, allowing light to reach the innermost leaves and increasing air circulation.

Sometimes it's necessary to remove a branch completely, as larger branches compete with small ones, leaving the latter weakened and susceptible to disease. Crowded branches can allow moisture to accumulate, encouraging rot. Branches that cross and rub against each other can cause wounds, making the tree susceptible to disease. Remove the bulk of the branch to get rid of excess weight that could cause the bark to tear from the final cut. The next cut is the most important because if you don't do it right, you could kill the tree. Leave a small piece of branch attached to the trunk rather than make the cut flush to the trunk. Look for the branch collar, a bulge on the branch extending from the main trunk, and make the cut just above the collar, a callus will develop to heal the cut. If you cut off the branch collar, the wound won't heal properly, this could damage & eventually kill the tree.

A heading cut is made to shorten a tree, to head it back and stimulate new growth. There are two types of heading cuts: selective and nonselective. In the latter, ordinarily used to shear formal hedges, branches are cut partway back, which results in rapid, bushy growth just below the cut. This cut isn't recommended for trees because it may result in a "lollipop" look. Selective cuts reduce the size of a tree without changing its natural shape. Make cuts directly above a bud or side branch that faces in the direction you want the new stems to grow. Cut off buds that face into the tree and instead allow for outward-facing growth.


Never remove more than one-third of the wood each time you prune. · Prune from the bottom up.
Prune from the inside out.
Make thinning cuts first, heading cuts last