In article ,
old git wrote:

I have a 5ft hedge that encompuses my property. Unfortunately the
previous owner had 2 rockeries growing along side it and in time
thinned out the hedge dramatically. Ive cleared everything from the
garden now but the hedge looks patchy in places. Could someone tell me
what to treat the hedge with to revitalise it.

Judging by the state of the soil around the roots of my old hedge, that
I dug out last October (and replanted), then digging down a foot or so,
close to the hedge, with a fork not a spade, will do a lot of good. The
soil around my old hedge was so compacted it was like concrete. I would
dig alongside it, loosen it all up, throw a load of Growmore in where
I'm digging, and finish off with a few gallons of water. Also, I'd wait
another 3 weeks before doing this - so that Spring is well under way.

My old hedge was a magnificent, very slow growing Cupressus type of
thing, 20-30 years old. However it started to go brown in uncontrollable
patches, so I decide to replace. (I now wonder if I'd done what I
described above I could have rescued it; but it was too late by the time
I'd discovered the "concrete".)

I imagine the treatment above would be a tonic to any hedge, no matter
what species. But I'm no expert (just another old git!).

John