Steps Towards Perfect Hedge Maintenance Over Winter
Hedges are great because they give you privacy and look really great. They may even increase the value of your property if they surround your home, or give your business a neat appearance that may help draw people in. They do require maintenance though, and you cannot maintain them the same way every season. There are special steps to take for hedge maintenance over winter, but if you follow them closely, you will have thriving plants come spring. Besides making sure they don’t die, you also want to keep your hedge in order because failure to do so could mean you are not in compliance with the law. If a neighbor or passerby sees them overgrown and blocking the view or even blocking people from safely walking on the sidewalk, they can file a complaint with the local council. If they do, you could get hit with a hefty fine, in addition to the cost of pruning back each hedge. So stay compliant with the law and take proper care of your foliage. In winter, that proper care starts with assessing the health of the plants. Look for dead or dying leaves, or discoloration. These could be signs of a bigger problem that needs to be attended to immediately. If you don’t fix the issue, it could spread and infect the rest of your plants, which could be catastrophic. If every plant is healthy, then you must mulch next. Start by removing any leaves, sticks or rocks from underneath each hedge. Not only does this make the plants look better and your yard look cleaner and well kept, but it also preps the soil for the next step. Then spread a nice, thick layer of mulch over the soil around each individual plant. This helps to keep the roots warmer during the cold winter months. You can go with dark brown mulch to match the soil, or if you want to go for something different, pick a colored mulch to make the dreary winter days a little brighter. It also helps ensure the soil does not dry out, since winter can be very dry with little to no humidity. In addition, leaving the mulch year round prevents weeds from taking root, so you have far less tedious gardening work to do. In the late winter, right before spring starts, you will want to prune all your hedges. This means you take a good, sharp pair of clippers and pare them back. This encourages growth once spring starts and helps keep everything nice and healthy. Do this before the plant starts producing buds, or else you may actually stunt its growth instead of encouraging it. If you have a lot of hedges, you may need some help. There are plenty of professional services that are happy to prune all of your bushes for you. Many do it twice a year, so you can pay up front for one session or pay for a full year and possibly get a discount. Either way, schedule service early, as the pre-spring slots fill up quickly, and you do not want the schedule to fill up before you can get in.
Tips For Maintaining Fast Growing Hedges
Much as their name implies, privet hedges are meant to create a sense of privacy. These are often used to create attractive borders around lawns and properties that keep household residents blocked from view in a way that a traditional fencing structure cannot. Lush and beautiful throughout much of the year, however, fast growing hedges do indeed require a considerable amount of work. Following are some very important things to remember about this foliage whether you’ve got plans on planting it or simply need to know how to better maintain the hedges you already have. It is important to note that this type of foliage is not evergreen when it is planted in any true, four-season climate. Throughout the four seasons of the year, these plants will look their best during the spring and the summer. With diligent watering and more temperate weather, they may even be quite beautiful towards the beginning of fall. After this time has passed, you can expect all of the leaves to fall away. This is always a great time to go ahead and start pruning them back. Among some of the other factors that you want to note is that certain options in these plants are poisonous to both humans and various types of wild animals. This shouldn’t really be a problem unless you’re overtaken by the desire to nibble on their leaves. If you’re attempting to get licensed for daycare, however, this certainly isn’t the type of foliage you want to own. People should also understand that these plants are invasive in many regions. They are not traditionally from here and thus, there are no natural competitors to beat them back. You shouldn’t have much of a problem controlling them in your yard, but if you intend to plant them on a larger and less-maintained property, you will definitely want to keep this characteristic firmly in mind. This is especially true whenever there are any well-founded fears of having these plants encroach on the space of other planted organisms. When it comes to maintenance, make sure that you are never using hand-held pruners or sheers. Although these tools are capable of keeping a hedge tiny, it also expedites the production of buds near the edges of the plant. As these buds multiple, the hedge will become too thick to allow sunlight to penetrate it deeply. This in turn, prevents growth at the interior, which can be exceedingly problematic. Clip every branch at a forty-five degree angle instead. This will leave plenty of space for air and light so that the interior of the hedge can be just as robust as the outside. This might not be the easiest way to create the smooth, even and ultimate uniform look that you’re going for, but it will keep the entire structure healthy from the inside out. You also want to take special concerns with structures that have seriously become overgrown. These will need to be rejuvenated from a more aggressive form of pruning. You can use the three-year rule to establish the right pruning schedule. Approximately one-third of all the very thickest stems should be taken off near the base of the hedge. These efforts will stimulate new growth while allowing for a much more balanced and even appearance. It will also protect the health of the plant by ensuring that no single area has become too robust. This will need to be repeated once each year for no less than three years. When this span of time is up, the shrub will be healthy and significantly smaller in size.
Maintenance Tips For Hedges In The Summer
Keeping your hedge beautiful, neat and healthy requires the correct balance of feed, water and outdoor conditions, but the correct pruning can also make or break plants. Hedges in the summer months need to be properly cut to allow the new growth to take over and form that familiar dense growth, but also to strengthen the vegetation. The following tips can help promote the growth and condition of all hedge types. A hedge is a common garden plant, but require a fair amount of care to achieve its full and healthy green consistency. For a hedge that is newly planted, you must perform routine trims to remove any old branches and leaves and to encourage stronger and deeper root development. This is carried out for a few years until the plant has established and healthy levels of grow have occurred. You can use a handheld shear or similar trimming tool that is sharp and able to cleanly cut through the stems of the plant. Many hedges are cut with a lightweight weed trimmer, but this is not recommended unless the plant is older and is being cut into a shape. Pruning and shaping younger plants with the wrong tools prevents removal of unwanted growth or dead patches and could kill the bush. It is best to conduct a trim in the spring and summer to prepare the plant for the new growth and accelerated development. Using a good pair of gloves and a shears, you must examine the hedge and identify areas of weakness or dead branches that need to be cut off. Trimming is an easy process if you know what to look for and receive the proper management tips from a professional. You can use a hand trimmer to keep the plants short and neat and proves particularly useful for larger hedge types. These tools provide better control and help target specific areas of these plants without making the mistake of chopping too much and compromising the health of hedges. Once established and a few years old, you can clip the hedge into any type of shape or keep it flat and neat along the top. Depending on the type of hedge, learn about its water requirements to maintain it development and health. Many plants can tolerate long periods without water while others will need to remain moist at the roots to facilitate healthy development. If you are unsure about its water needs, visit a local gardening facility to discuss the maintenance of the plant. It is a good idea to remove all the dead flowers after the summer bloom to prevent these sections from sapping energy from the plant. Look out for decaying branches or areas of disease that would compromise the integrity and any future growth. With the right approach, these plants can be kept strong and in the best condition throughout the year. Keeping a hedge neatly trimmed and well cared for during the summer period can help produce dense growth and a healthy bush. A hand shears or electrically operated tool provides greater control over the trimming process. Simple care in the spring and summer months can provide an abundance of future growth.
How To Trim Your Hedges In The Spring
There are a few things folks need to know when it comes to caring for their landscaping. Depending on where you live there are certain care and maintenance needs for different times of the year. No matter where you live one universal task is trimming hedges in the spring. The most common technique is to trim from the top of the bush down. Before you start cutting away branches, make sure you do some research about the type of hedge you have. It is very important to understand the type of cuts you will need to make to ensure a healthy plant. You may need to purchase certain tools to do the job right. Learn all you can about how and when to trim before you begin. It is never a good idea to just start cutting away at branches. Trimming in the spring rather than the fall will help plants survive the low temperatures of winter. The time to trim is in the spring, during the summer, and at the end of the summer. Trimming and snipping in the growing season encourages the plant to grow and branch up. If you clip your hedge in the colder temperatures the newly clipped branches are exposed to cold and this will harm the plant. Choose your tools wisely. Gardening tools that are better made and do not lose their sharp edges are recommended. Cutting with a tool that has dull edge can damage branches by uneven cuts and ripping. A clean sharp cut will promote healthy growth. It is best to use a hand pruner for fine work, serrated blade shears for heavy branches, and lopping shears for thick branches. You can use string as a guideline to help you trim a hedge evenly. Begin by making a grid of the branches that are sticking out. Trim the larger branches that stick out first. Next do some closer clipping to clean up the top and sides and get a nice shape. You can concentrate on keeping your hedge square or trim individual hedges into a round shape. Clip the sides of the bush wider at the bottom. This will ensure that the exposed leaves get the most sun. When you clip bushes you are making it possible for them to soak up the light. The hedge should look like an upside down vase when trimmed correctly. A properly clipped bush will be healthy. It is important to know what needs to be cut on the particular hedge you are pruning. Clipping branches to encourage growth means that you trim the longer branches in the middle. If you only want to spruce up your hedge, concentrate on its shape, making it even by clipping branches that are sticking out. You will be thinning the bush out. When you trim, begin at the top of the bush and work downward. Make sure that you fertilise the bush so that it has energy to encourage new growth. Anyone can have beautiful looking bushes when they follow these guidelines. With a little work you will have a yard that will make your neighbours envious.
