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How can I thin a Privet hedge?
pdrobi
Posts: 2
Hi
I have a long (30m) privet hedge running down the garden between me and next door. Over the years the hedge has become very thick and is taking up far too much width now. Is it possible to cut it right back to reduce the width by maybe a foot without killing it?
0
Posts
You can be vicious.
ours reached the phone wires years ago and wide in proportion to height. It's at a manageable 5 or 6 foot now. I think we should have taken it back further to thicken out the bottom foot.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Yes it's possible, I've done it before
. It will look awful at first but will grow back. Helps to take some off the top at the same time. Remove any old dead wood and aim to keep it trimmed at a slope in future (wider at the bottom).
It'll probably do it the world of good
If you're really hacking it back a lot, a good tidy round the base afterwards, and a little feed, water and mulch will make it look great and give it a good start for the rest of the season.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Now is a very good time to do this work as it will start to regrow quickly.