Hedges tend to go unnoticed in gardens. They are overshadowed by trees and larger plants and become a backdrop for more colourful flowers. Despite this, hedges play many important roles in gardens and landscapes that you shouldn’t ignore. Their presence helps to define an outdoor space.
That’s why hedge maintenance is so important. It’s easy to forget about the proper care of these plants, but it can be harmful to do so.
Let’s look at why a little bit of easy care can go a long way with hedges.
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Common Easy Maintenance Hedge Plants in Perth
Hedges act as natural barriers in a garden. They can block the wind and keep your garden protected from soil and plant erosion. They can define spaces within a design, provide privacy around pools or play areas, or create a barrier around your property lines and entrances.
The most common easy-maintenance plants used in hedges in Perth are:
- Buxus,
- Lilly Pilly,
- Murraya
- Photinia
- Viburnum
While not the only option for creating hedges, these are popular due to their hardy, disease-resistant natures and comparative ease of pruning.
Before planting, make sure to check:
- With your council for height or species restrictions
- Your property boundaries
- What’s below where you want to dig – contact ‘dial before you dig’ it’s a free service.
- With your neighbours (if you want to be extra neighbourly)
Proper hedge maintenance is important to keep these natural barriers intact, and healthy and from taking over the other plants and space in your garden.
Hedge Maintenance
Hedge maintenance doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. In fact, consistent maintenance can pay off in the future.
With proper maintenance and attention, hedges can be trimmed and trained to grow and develop in a certain way. The plant “learns” how to grow in a way that is healthy for itself. This means not needing to maintain the plant as much in the long run.
How to Maintain Hedges
Here are a few guidelines and tips on how to maintain hedges by trimming:
Hedge Maintenance by Trimming
New hedges should always be carefully maintained from the beginning by trimming the hedge plants to help them establish the shape you want.
Begin at one end, keeping the shears level and regularly checking at eye level to assess the evenness of the cuts. If you don’t trust your eyes to give you a straight line, use a length of string pulled taunt to set the lines before you cut.
The season and regularity of hedge trimming depends on the species but try to not cut too early in the year to avoid disturbing any birds which might be nesting in your hedge. Most times you can get away with between 3-4 times a year, but, especially if you are trying to maintain a specific shape, you will be able to tell!
Hedge Trimming Tips
- You should always make sure to taper your shape, keeping it slightly wider at the bottom so every part will get the sun it needs
- Try to avoid trimming on very hot or windy days – not just for safety’s sake, new foliage can burn in hot sunlight.
- Use sharp tools to avoid tearing – can enable disease entry and ruin the shape
- Dig a trench to plant instead of individual holes to encourage thick growth down to the ground
Other Benefits of Hedge Maintenance
Hedges play an important role in gardens and landscapes and can add a lot to the overall style and theme of your garden design. So, there are several other benefits of hedge maintenance which include those we talk about below:
Hedges are an effective and affordable way to turn your outdoor areas into organized, livable spaces. Considering hedges are used for outdoor mazes, their role in creating an organized look shouldn’t be ignored.
Hedgerows are beneficial for wildlife, which in turn, can help you out as well. Wild creatures use hedges for a variety of reasons, many of which will provide a home for potential pests and keep them out of your garden.
Hedgerows are also nature’s highways. Since most small animals avoid large, open spaces, they will use hedgerows to get from one point to another.
You can use hedges to keep these small animals out of your garden or landscape. They will be less likely to harm the other plants and trees and may avoid your garden altogether.
How We Can Help Make Hedge Maintenance Easy for You
If you plan on maintaining your hedges yourself, make sure you invest in the proper tools and be aware that higher hedges can be precarious and possibly dangerous to trim.
The easiest and safest method of hedge maintenance is to hire a professional gardener.
They will have the right tools, experience and insurance for handling the tough jobs for you, so it’s worth outsourcing the hedge maintenance and maybe just doing touch-ups yourself in-between visits.
They will also be able to remove all the green waste as an added bonus.
The key to hedge maintenance is consistency, both to maintain the looks and health of your hedge. This prevents damage to surrounding plants and hardscaping like fences – once they are out of control it becomes a much harder job.
For more information about our hedge trimming services, feel free to contact us.