Pruning hedging whips
dianegflynn
Posts: 11
I have inherited an old and rather neglected hedge with the house I've just bought. To plug some of the gaps I planted some whips over the winter which have now started to sprout. I didn't prune them when I planted them and am now reading that perhaps I should have done so. Is it too late to do it now? They are about 2' tall, hawthorne and acer.
The original hedge is 10-12 feet tall, overgrown with ivy and the bottom of the hedge is gappy. This year I put the whips in a stretch about 9' which had no hedge and next year I want to move onto the other sections of the hedge and plug gaps and refresh. To do it all at once is too big a job and would remove all the screen from the road. Wondering how to break this down into stages to tackle?
Hope you can advise me as it would help both this year and in the future.
Thank you
Posts
Hi Diane - I wouldn't worry too much about pruning if they're only a couple of feet tall. It's usually a good idea to prune if they're bigger sized whips.
Are you sure you mean Acer? Did you mean Maple? If so, you'll need to be prepared to do a fair bit of pruning as those will get very big. They're not really an ideal specimen in a hedge.
If there's lots of ivy in the hedge, you may want to try and get rid of some of it in order to let the hedge you want thrive. That can be tricky, but if you keep pruning it right at the base it might weaken it. Alternatively, you can use a weedkiller on the foliage, very carefully, and wait for it to die back. It'll take several applications though. If you bruise the foliage a bit, that helps weedkiller to penetrate.
Re tackling your whole hedge - I think you're doing the sensible thing by attending to a small stretch at a time - perhaps twenty feet or so. Bare bits at the bottom of the hedge can be improved with correct trimming and pruning over time, and also by clearing up and tidying the base of the hedge, giving it a general feed in early spring,a thorough watering and a mulch of well rotted manure, compost or bark. If you add any whips in the gaps, perpare the ground well to start with, and they'll stand a better chance of thriving.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you Fairygirl
I've snipped the top of the whips and am hoping they'll continue to grow and then I'll do another section next year. I'll add some feed to the whips too.
Just so you know the extent of the issue, here's a photo of one of the ivy stems that I have to tackle!
If you cut back a few of the mature hedge plants to about a foot above ground level, they will sprout and thicken up the hedge lower down. It is not too late to do it now; try it with some now and if you like what happens over this growing season you can do the rest next year. Ian assuming the hedge is mostly hawthorn.
Thanks Redwing- many of the hedge plants are really tree trunk size so I'll try that with one or two of the slimmer ones. Mainly hawthorn with a large section of holly.
Some ivy stems are as thick as my arm. I spent yesterday cutting a selection of them at intervals to weaken them and so gradually reove them. Unfortunately, they keep growing!