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#1
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Newbie questions about pruning privet hedge
Hi folks - first-time poster here with some pretty simple questions I'm sure, so please be kind!
I grew up in a hot and dry climate and so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to caring for and hedges. At the place where my front garden where it meets the pavement, I planted a row of privet hedge plants last September. They are spaced out about 18 inches apart and are about five feet tall and still quite young, but have begun to sprout lots of little leaves over the past few weeks (of course). As they have now started to grow, I have some questions about how to prune the plants so that they grow into the shape I want. Can you help me? I want the plants to grow about 6-8 inches taller than they are now, and I also want them to "flesh out" a bit more. Little sprouts are starting to stick up. Should I trim them now or should I let them grow more? How often should I trim privet hedge during the growing season? Should I trim the sides as well? Many thanks for your help and advice! |
#2
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Newbie questions about pruning privet hedge
Good question. pruning information he
Many tree problems are associated with the following: They are Case Sensitive. Pruning http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning Some people just use hedge trimmers. Thought you might desire targeted information. Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Consulting Forester & Tree Expert www.treedictionary.com Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss. "ajax" wrote in message ... Hi folks - first-time poster here with some pretty simple questions I'm sure, so please be kind! I grew up in a hot and dry climate and so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to caring for and hedges. At the place where my front garden where it meets the pavement, I planted a row of privet hedge plants last September. They are spaced out about 18 inches apart and are about five feet tall and still quite young, but have begun to sprout lots of little leaves over the past few weeks (of course). As they have now started to grow, I have some questions about how to prune the plants so that they grow into the shape I want. Can you help me? I want the plants to grow about 6-8 inches taller than they are now, and I also want them to "flesh out" a bit more. Little sprouts are starting to stick up. Should I trim them now or should I let them grow more? How often should I trim privet hedge during the growing season? Should I trim the sides as well? Many thanks for your help and advice! -- ajax |
#3
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Newbie questions about pruning privet hedge
On 3/20/2008 1:12 PM, ajax wrote:
Hi folks - first-time poster here with some pretty simple questions I'm sure, so please be kind! I grew up in a hot and dry climate and so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to caring for and hedges. At the place where my front garden where it meets the pavement, I planted a row of privet hedge plants last September. They are spaced out about 18 inches apart and are about five feet tall and still quite young, but have begun to sprout lots of little leaves over the past few weeks (of course). As they have now started to grow, I have some questions about how to prune the plants so that they grow into the shape I want. Can you help me? I want the plants to grow about 6-8 inches taller than they are now, and I also want them to "flesh out" a bit more. Little sprouts are starting to stick up. Should I trim them now or should I let them grow more? How often should I trim privet hedge during the growing season? Should I trim the sides as well? Many thanks for your help and advice! Privet (genus Ligustrum) takes very well to shearing. If you are ambitious, you might even try topiary with them. In general, a hedge should be sheared to be a little wider at the bottom than at the top, with slightly sloping sides. This ensures that enough light reaches the foliage at the bottom. With vertical sides, less light reaches the bottom, resulting in die-out of the lower branches. I'm a docent at a public garden that's a showcase of garden design concepts from different parts of the world. The privet in the French garden is sheared about once every second week from late spring until middle fall and about once a month during the rest of the year. It's kept to about 3 ft high. That's because the design concept for the French garden is formality, with symmetry and geometry. In the French garden, boxwood and even the star jasmine are also sheared. (In the English garden, however, plants are not sheared; they billow irregularly.) -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/ |
#4
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Thanks very much for the useful advice!
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