Pruning is the process of removing parts of your hedges or other plants that are no longer wanted or useful. Pruning hedges have many great advantages. For starters, by consistently removing older parts, you encourage the hedge to keep growing new ones and thereby make sure that it remains healthy and active. Also each cut made has the potential to drive the hedge’s growth in a brand-new direction, allowing you to shape it however you want.
Regardless of whether you want to keep your hedges healthy or add an aesthetic touch to your surroundings (or both), pruning is a very useful landscaping skill to learn. Hence, we’ve compiled these helpful tips so that you can learn to do it the right way:
Select the Appropriate Plant
Before you attempt to prune a specific plant, you should first make sure that it is, in fact, a hedge. This can be hard to do with just a visual inspection as hedges come in a wide range of varieties. A good way to tell whether you’re dealing with a hedging plant is to see whether its response to being cut is to ‘fill out’. If that is the case, then it’s definitely a hedge. If you’re still not sure, then it’s best to consult a local expert like Jims mowing Melbourne. This way you can be absolutely certain that you’re not mistaking a hedge for something else.
Begin Early
It’s a good idea to start pruning hedges while they’re still young. This stimulates branching that’s focused on the hedge’s core, making it appear nice and full. Ideally, you should allow the hedge to grow for two years before you start pruning and shaping. Afterwards, trim often to maintain the desired shape.
Know the Right Time to Prune
Ideally, you should prevent the obstruction of the leaves located in the bottom by new growth. Otherwise, the sunlight will be cut off to the former, resulting in them dying and falling off. Hence when it seems like the lower leaves are getting shaded by the ones located above, it’s time to prune.
Depending on the type of hedging plant you’re dealing with, the frequency at which you prune should vary. Some species grow faster and hence requires more frequent attention than others. We recommend that you consult an expert if you’re unsure of how often you should prune.
Use the Right Trimmers
Sure, an electric trimmer can get the job done faster, but it also does a messy job. Electric trimmers are very strong and can leave your hedge looking jagged with uneven cuts. This results in poor growth and even plant illnesses. On the other, a hand trimmer allows you to be precise with your pruning. You’ll have more freedom to execute your vision, guiding the hedges growth and shape with decisive cuts.
As you’ve probably realized after reading through this article, pruning isn’t the easiest task in the world. It can almost be considered a science when you think about how it can influence the way a hedge grows and the shape it adopts. Therefore, we recommend that you spend some time processing these tips properly before you attempt to do any pruning at all.