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Pruning new hedge

LH_BCLH_BC Posts: 6
in Wildlife gardening
Hello, I planted a mixed native hedge in our garden at the end of March this year. I've just realised that I should have cut back the whips to help encourage quicker and denser growth. Does anyone know if it's too late now? We're in north east Scotland so a bit further behind with the seasons! Thanks. 

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    How tall are the plants now and how much foliage is there down the stems?  It may be enough just to pinch out the tips or remove just a few inches, given we're at the end of May and your growing season is not that long

    When we planted a hawthorn hedge one autumn I cut every whip down to 9"/23cms and it grew 6' the next year.  We cut that down to 3' in autumn to encourage bushing out ad it grew another 6' the next year.  We cut that back to 5' and trimmed the sides and ended up with a very healthy 6' high hedge about 5' thick.

    It was between our fruits beds and an arable field behind and made a great windbreak against the northwesterlies and a great refuge and food source for insects, small birds and critters.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    What size are they just now and what do they look like @LH_BC ? If you can upload a photo, that will also help  :)
    You may not need to bother until later if they're still small. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LH_BCLH_BC Posts: 6
    Thanks both! Here are a couple of photos. Hope it helps. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If they were mine, I'd just nip the tops out for now - maybe a foot at most, but - I'd clear all the weeds away, and most importantly take the ivy out, or cut it right back for the next year or so, before it smothers everything else. 
    That will allow the hawthorn to get established more easily. It's as tough as old boots, but it needs a chance to thrive, and then it will manage to withstand other things around it. When you see hawthorn in it's usual natural setting, mainly as field boundaries for livestock, there's all sorts growing in and around it, but it needs that chance at the start so that you don't lose it   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LH_BCLH_BC Posts: 6
    Thanks Fairygirl for the advice! I had cleared some weeds around them but should probably take them all out, everything has suddenly grown recently! You've reminded me about the ivy, there are 2 actually so I'll take them bith out and move them to the other side which actually needs more climbers anyway. 
  • LH_BCLH_BC Posts: 6
    Actually could I ask another question, can I use grass clippings as mulch around the hedge? I'm hoping that will help suppress the other vegetation taking over! 
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    Yes you can
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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