|
Pyracantha Hedge
Hi
I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Thanks Sarah |
Pyracantha Hedge
"Sarah" wrote in message s.com... Hi I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Thanks Sarah Sarah. 8 years ago we moved into our house with a very thin untidy Pyracantha hedge. It has responded well to regular pruning and shaping and is now even and unpenetrable (except by the redwings which have recently stripped every berry from it). Get stuck in. Martin R |
Pyracantha Hedge
In article ,
M K Rogerson wrote: "Sarah" wrote in message ws.com... I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Sarah. 8 years ago we moved into our house with a very thin untidy Pyracantha hedge. It has responded well to regular pruning and shaping and is now even and unpenetrable (except by the redwings which have recently stripped every berry from it). Get stuck in. Yes, pyracatha responds well to being cut back hard. I would cut it back to somewhere like 1-1.5 metres high in spring, give it a bit of fertiliser as it starts to grow, and trim back again next winter. Assuming it is healthy, it will be back to 2 metres and a lot more solid by the summer of 2005. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Pyracantha Hedge
Hello Sarah,
Thickening up your hedge is quite straight forward. The improvement will come through pruning and, as necessary, feeding. You will find that if you reduce the height of your hedge, the improvement will come more rapidly, but if privicy is an issue, it certainly isn't necessary. Start on a dry day, in late February/early march, just cutting back growth extensions on the road-side of your hedge. Whilst doing this, also cut out any dead, diseased or damaged wood. Any useful, strong extensions may be woven into the hedge laterally. This will immediately give the hedge a denser appearance. However, don't rely on this as a long-term policy; your hedge will be stronger and thicker in the long term with correct pruning. You should also aim to shape your hedge so that it is wider at the bottom than the top. This stops the top growth shading out growth at the hedge bottom. There is no reason why you should not prune both sides of your hedge in the same day/weekend, if you are able. After pruning, clear debris from the hedge bottom and feed with a general fertiliser. You may want to gently fork in the fertiliser to ensure it doesn't just run off the surface when you water it in. After all, your hedge has been there long enough to put on 6ft (2m) of growth, so the soil it relies on is probably compacted. (I suggested pruning the road-side of your hedge first, because of your responsibility to keep a prickly hedge in order where people frequently pass. I have 200ft of pyracantha hedge (that's 400ft, if you can't both sides!), and I always trim the outside first.) With the start of the new growing season, your hedge will put out lots of new shoots. When you see flower buds forming, give the hedge a high potash feed (rose fertiliser or tomato food) to boost its flowering potential. Watch out for Pyracantha Scab (a greyish-black mould) on leaves or berries. Spray, if you wish. I prune mine out. If this becomes a problem, avoid using any nitrogenous fertiliser for a while. This will promote soft growths which are more vulnerable to attack. Later in the year you will need to cut back this years' extension growths. Doing this will neaten the hedge for winter and show off your lovely berries. Oh yes .. wear gloves! Enjoy your hedge. Spider Sarah wrote in message s.com... Hi I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Thanks Sarah -- Sarah ------------------------------------------------------------------------ posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk |
Pyracantha Hedge
On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:23:17 +0000, Sarah wrote:
I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Yes, it is indeed possible, although it will take some work and some time to achieve. If your hedge is really thin, you can buy in additional plants, and run a second row in behind or in front of the main hedge, so that it grows up and into it, and thickens the hedge. With this arrangement, it does get very difficult pruning the old hedge while the new hedge is growing. Assuming you hedge is just needs thickening up - try the following 1) Shorten it to about 6 - 12 inches below your desired final height. 2) Trim any sideways growth that is too wide to 6 inches inside your desired final width. 3) Make sure when doing 1) and 2) that the overall side on profile of your hedge looks like a capital A. The bottom of the hedge should be wider than the top of the hedge so that it gets light. 4) Feed the hedge - give it a good 6 inch deep mulch of well rotted manure. 5) Prune the hedge reguarly. I thickened up a privet hedge over a couple of years - but that grows much fater in the summer - I was trimming that 3 - 4 times between spring and autumn to keep it in shape. Do not let the hedge grow bigger than your planned size and shape. 6) Keep feeding the hedge whilst its growing. What I have found is that the pruning of the hedge encourages it to throw new branches, and thicken up. If you constantly keep the height and width under control, the hedge will eventually respond by growing where you want it to, rather than where it wants to. Feeding is very important when trying to encourage a hedge to put on more than normal additional growth - this gives it the wherewithall to put on the extra growth. When the hedge has got to the size and shape you want, cut back the feeding to once a year, so that it doesn't then go into manic mode on you! HTH, Sarah |
Pyracantha Hedge
In article , "Sarah Dale" writes: | | Assuming you hedge is just needs thickening up - try the following | | 1) Shorten it to about 6 - 12 inches below your desired final height. I did that with a privet hedge and regretted it. It didn't work. The reason was that shortening a tall hedge to 6-12" below the final height is likely to end up with a hedge that is thick in the top 12" and has bare stems below. Most shrubs will shoot from close to the cut end, and pyracantha and privet are two such. I have since seen recommendations that suggest cutting SEVERELY thin and spindly hedges back to 1/3 of their final height, or even less. But, obviously, tbe optimal amount will depend on all of the circumstances. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Pyracantha Hedge
The message m
from Sarah contains these words: I have a 2 metre high pyracantha hedge which I need to thicken up as its on the boundary between my garden and the main road. Is this possible at all, I'm happy to lose some height if needs be. Bung some bonemeal down under it and gently fork it into the top layer of soil. Some well-rotted manure wouldn't come amiss either. Water it when it gets dry underneath, and you should see the difference in the first season. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
Pyracantha Hedge
The message
from Nick Wagg contains these words: Spider wrote: You should also aim to shape your hedge so that it is wider at the bottom than the top. This stops the top growth shading out growth at the hedge bottom. I have heard this before but question the reasoning behind it. Surely this would only make much difference when the sun is directly overhead, which happens rarely in these Northern climes and only for a short period of the year, for a short time each day? Rarely? Never! As for ambient light, well if it isn't directional how is the cutting going to make much difference? The reason for cutting hedges in a truncated prism shape is twofold: the first is that it tends to resist strong winds better, and the second is to afford birds a choice of different nesting conditions. (According to the old Agricultural Research Council, anyway.) -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
Pyracantha Hedge
On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 08:17:36 +0000, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , "Sarah Dale" writes: | | Assuming you hedge is just needs thickening up - try the following | | 1) Shorten it to about 6 - 12 inches below your desired final height. I did that with a privet hedge and regretted it. It didn't work. The reason was that shortening a tall hedge to 6-12" below the final height is likely to end up with a hedge that is thick in the top 12" and has bare stems below. Most shrubs will shoot from close to the cut end, and pyracantha and privet are two such. Hhhhhmmmmm.... that is interesting Nick. I'm just trying to remember how bad the hedge was when I first pruned it - given my old hedge was a privet (I have moved house since). I think I was more after general shape, height and a bit of thickening up, my old hedge was reasonably OK round the bottom. You are right, the new growth does tend to occur at the cut end of the branch. Perhaps this is why the advice is to trim inside your prefered profile, so you get a layer of dense close growth at the edge of the hedge profile, while it doesn't (necessarily) matter if the hedge is a bit thin & straggly in the middle (unless you happen to need a stock proof hedge). The feeding part is important to get the hedge to thicken up - I've been nagging my parents these last couple of months about feeding their hedge up as it desperatly needs it. Over several years of feeding & pruning my somewhat neglected hedge, I ended up with a 6 ft high, 4 ft wide (at the base) privet hedge which looked good. Mind you it needed pruning 4 times a year, so I'd not choose to have one! My present "hedges" (if that word can be used in this context) are a mess of dogwood, a prickly thing with pretty pink flowers in summer, a shrub / tree type plant that has grown trunks through 10 yrs of mismanagement by previous owneres, the odd conifer, a prostrate conifer (!), and one pyracantha to cath the pruner unawares..... It is quite visually interesting, although as it is not evergreen (well only 10% is evergreen) it is just as well we have a wall and fence behind. The pruning technique is totally different to privet, and in year 1 involved heavy sawing to cut the tree/shrubs down to about 4 foot.... Sarah |
Pyracantha Hedge
On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 08:17:36 +0000, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , "Sarah Dale" writes: | | Assuming you hedge is just needs thickening up - try the following | | 1) Shorten it to about 6 - 12 inches below your desired final height. I did that with a privet hedge and regretted it. It didn't work. The reason was that shortening a tall hedge to 6-12" below the final height is likely to end up with a hedge that is thick in the top 12" and has bare stems below. Most shrubs will shoot from close to the cut end, and pyracantha and privet are two such. Hhhhhmmmmm.... that is interesting Nick. I'm just trying to remember how bad the hedge was when I first pruned it - given my old hedge was a privet (I have moved house since). I think I was more after general shape, height and a bit of thickening up, my old hedge was reasonably OK round the bottom. You are right, the new growth does tend to occur at the cut end of the branch. Perhaps this is why the advice is to trim inside your prefered profile, so you get a layer of dense close growth at the edge of the hedge profile, while it doesn't (necessarily) matter if the hedge is a bit thin & straggly in the middle (unless you happen to need a stock proof hedge). The feeding part is important to get the hedge to thicken up - I've been nagging my parents these last couple of months about feeding their hedge up as it desperatly needs it. Over several years of feeding & pruning my somewhat neglected hedge, I ended up with a 6 ft high, 4 ft wide (at the base) privet hedge which looked good. Mind you it needed pruning 4 times a year, so I'd not choose to have one! My present "hedges" (if that word can be used in this context) are a mess of dogwood, a prickly thing with pretty pink flowers in summer, a shrub / tree type plant that has grown trunks through 10 yrs of mismanagement by previous owneres, the odd conifer, a prostrate conifer (!), and one pyracantha to cath the pruner unawares..... It is quite visually interesting, although as it is not evergreen (well only 10% is evergreen) it is just as well we have a wall and fence behind. The pruning technique is totally different to privet, and in year 1 involved heavy sawing to cut the tree/shrubs down to about 4 foot.... Sarah |
Pyracantha Hedge
In article , Nick Wagg writes: | Spider wrote: | | You should also aim to shape your hedge so that it is wider at the bottom | than the top. This stops the top growth shading out growth at the hedge | bottom. | | I have heard this before but question the reasoning behind it. | Surely this would only make much difference when the sun is | directly overhead, which happens rarely in these Northern climes | and only for a short period of the year, for a short time each | day? In the UK, only about half the light is direct; the rest is diffused. It makes more of a difference than you think, but it is a small effect compared with whether the sides are 'open' to the sky of shadowed by buildings and other plants. | As for ambient light, well if it isn't directional how is the cutting | going to make much difference? Not much comes from below. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Pyracantha Hedge
Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , Nick Wagg writes: | Spider wrote: | | You should also aim to shape your hedge so that it is wider at the | bottom than the top. This stops the top growth shading out growth | at the hedge bottom. | | I have heard this before but question the reasoning behind it. | Surely this would only make much difference when the sun is | directly overhead, which happens rarely in these Northern climes | and only for a short period of the year, for a short time each | day? In the UK, only about half the light is direct; the rest is diffused. It makes more of a difference than you think, but it is a small effect compared with whether the sides are 'open' to the sky of shadowed by buildings and other plants. Quite. | As for ambient light, well if it isn't directional how is the cutting | going to make much difference? Not much comes from below. :) -- Nick Wagg TranscenData Europe Ltd, 4, Carisbrooke Court, Anderson Road, Buckingway Business Park, Swavesey, Cambridge, CB4 5UQ, England. Email: URL: www.transcendata.com Tel: +44 (0)1954 234300 Fax: +44 (0)1954 234349 |
Pyracantha Hedge
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The reason for cutting hedges in a truncated prism shape is twofold: the first is that it tends to resist strong winds better, and the second is to afford birds a choice of different nesting conditions. (According to the old Agricultural Research Council, anyway.) I can see the logic in those arguments. Thanks. -- Nick Wagg |
Pyracantha Hedge
The message
from "Sarah Dale" contains these words: My present "hedges" (if that word can be used in this context) are a mess of dogwood, a prickly thing with pretty pink flowers in summer, a shrub / tree type plant that has grown trunks through 10 yrs of mismanagement by previous owneres, the odd conifer, a prostrate conifer (!), and one pyracantha to cath the pruner unawares..... Dogwood shouldn't be prickly - you may have a new variety there...... -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:25 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter