An established hedge is a valuable commodity well worth taking good care of, but even then eventually it may grow too large. Deciduous hedges however can usually be rejuvenated, given a little patience.
Hedges must be among the most underrated of garden features and despite the fact that they need regular maintenance, they deserve to be more widely planted and more carefully treated; indeed, only in recent years have gardeners started to fully understand the benefits these living boundaries provide. They make a far more durable choice than a fence and a cheaper option than a wall and can be more attractive than either. They are graffiti and vandalism resistant, tricky to scale and when dense hard to push through. They also bring ecosystem benefits; hedges attract wildlife making great nesting places for birds, they can help cool our cities in summer and reduce flash-flooding by absorbing rainwater. They even help mitigate noise and airborne pollution.
Hedges of deciduous species have three extra benefits:
•Most can be renovated when they get too large- this is not the case with many evergreen coniferous hedges, which simply have to be replaced.
•Deciduous hedges filter winds, lowering the speed of damaging gusts and as a result are unlikely to be damaged; evergreen hedges can funnel them causing a wind tunnel and in severe gales may be damaged.
•They are easy to prune. Uneven trimming is generally less obvious and soon forgotten once the hedge grows, or leaves fall.
When to renovate
Once a hedge has reached its desired size, pruning is usually carried out annually for informal hedges, perhaps two or three times a year for the neatest, formal examples. Despite gardeners’ best efforts however, hedges can gradually develop
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