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Winter hedge trimming
Meomye
Posts: 949
Is it ok to reduce height and depth of a Leylandii hedge at this time of year? It is just that I am having other works carried out in the garden and if poss, I would like this done at the same time. Or am I risking diseases etc.
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Posts
It's not advisable now but if you did, I doubt you would have huge issues. You would just reduce its chances of growing back so fast. If you cut back really hard, like into woody areas, there is also a possibility some branches may not recover.
Yes you can do it now. We're not in the throes of a deep freeze so it's really just like a cold autumn!
Leylandii doesn't regenerate once branches are cut, so if you reduce the depth, you will be left with bare brown branches and trunks. If the height is cut, some of the branches lower down will then grow upwards and will eventually cover the leading shoots that were trimmed, but it looks very ugly while it is doing so. It all depends where the hedge is and whether it can be seen from the house for example. It's why Leylandii is not a good choice for a hedge, although quick growing, it just doesn't stop!