Forming a hedge
A distinction is made between a strong corrective cut (molded hedges) and moderate sanitary cut (free hedges). Strong cutting of deciduous plants is performed several times a year, which promotes a better thickening of the hedge. After three years, we perform this procedure only once or twice a year. So that the hedge does not grow too quickly, each time we leave young shoots of the maximum length 2 cm.
The bushes are cut at the beginning of June and in winter, or only at the turn of July and August. Conifers and other evergreen plants, except for the privet, It is usually cut once, in the spring before the beginning of vegetation (mid-April). Some gardeners cut the hedge once - in June or early July. If a second cut is needed, it is best to do them by mid-July. With a later cut, there is a fear that insufficiently woody shoots will freeze in winter.
The access of light to the lower parts of the shrubs in the hedge is important. Due to the lack of light, the lower part of the hedge can become empty quickly. This will be prevented by giving the hedge a pyramidal shape, that is, wider at the bottom, narrower in the upper part. This shape is achieved by cutting more forcefully at the top of the hedge. This should be taken into account especially in a hedge made of conifers.
The picket fence greatly restricts the access of light and makes it difficult to cut bushes, therefore, in the first years after planting the plants, it is better to replace it with a few stretched wires. A deformed or too high hedge can be corrected by trimming old branches very strongly. It is best to do this in winter, in January or February.
Sanitary cutting of free-growing hedges is limited to removing damaged branches and branches growing just above the soil surface. It is also necessary to constantly rejuvenate trees or shrubs by removing very old branches. Overgrown bushes are reduced by shortening some branches and shoots.
The above-mentioned sanitary cuts are made with a ball or a pruner; hedge trimmers are not suitable for this.
Shrubs, which bloom in early spring on last year's shoots (np. forsythia), cuts right after flowering. Thanks to this, new strong shoots will develop, guaranteeing abundant flowering of the bushes in the following year.
In addition to the rejuvenating cut, treatments can be performed in the summer, which, admittedly, are not necessary, but they improve the appearance of the shrubs, np. shortening too long one-year shoots. Good to remember, that each shrub or tree needs individual treatment, depending on the nature of the plant's growth and the flowering period.
