Well maintained garden hedge can add beauty and elegance to your garden and home. It provides coolness of greenery as well as privacy and shade to your garden. A garden hedge can also be a comfortable habitat for small birds and it can provide wind protection as well.
If you plan to have a garden hedge, it is important to know the ground rules to do so. It is significant to dig a planting trench appropriate for your hedge in width and length. As a general rule it is ideal to have the trench a minimum of 30 cm broader than root ball of plant and similar depth. Given below are some tips to take care of your hedge plants:
1. Trimming Hedge Plants
Spring is the best time to trim your hedge plants as low temperatures in cold season are bad for new cuts on plants to grow. You can time the trimming of hedge in two terms during summer, first one in the intermediate summer and next one towards the end of summer.
Aside from finely trimming plants during these occasions, it is good to occasionally snipping outgrowth, especially through growing cycle. This occasional trimming is essential as it encourages further growth and make it branch upwards.
2. Hedge Maintenance
It is essential to water your hedge plants regularly during dry periods of both summer and winter. Use necessary fertilizers periodically for diverse types of hedge plants. By the end of fall you can restore the outer protection layer of your hedge if required, and also remove the weeds and dead wood fallen around. In case of any bald spots in your hedge, you can cover it up by planting some flowering climbers.
3. Tools for Trimming
Always remember that the dull blade of your trimming tool can do more damage than good to your hedge plants. Hence it is best to go for good quality trimming tools such as, hand pruners for major fine cutting, cutting shears for bushiest ones and toothed blades for heftier branches. While trimming you can use a measure tape or string to keep it even and the base needs to be trimmed wider to allow sunlight to the open leaves.
By following these ground rules and doing a bit of regular hard work, you can acquire a beautiful and elegant looking hedge which can even replace a garden fence.
