Hedges do not move, but they do expand — a few inches a year in every direction unless something stops them. So a hedge that was a comfortable distance from a path or a shed when it was planted will, given fifteen years of topping-only maintenance, be against it.
The common cases
| Situation | Usual answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Growing across a path | Cut the face back to a line | Put a batter on it so it stops leaning back over |
| Crowding a shed or greenhouse | Face reduction on that side | Leave a working gap |
| Pressing on a fence | Face reduction | Check whether the fence is failing under it |
| Growing against a stone wall | Face reduction | Check for self-sown trees at the base |
| Swamping a border | Width reduction | The border ground will be dry and root-filled |
| Over a drive or parking space | Face reduction, top lowered | Consider what the finished width should be |
Leave a working gap
The single most useful thing to get right when a hedge is cut back off a structure. If the hedge ends up closer than about 300mm to a fence, wall or shed, that face of it can never be cut again — there is nowhere to stand and nowhere for the cuttings to fall.
So when a hedge is being brought back off something, take it further than feels necessary. The extra few inches now is what keeps the hedge maintainable for the next thirty years.
Hedges and dry stone walls
Worth its own note around Moreton-in-Marsh. A hedge growing alongside a dry stone wall is generally fine — the hedge itself does not push stone over.
What does push stone over is a tree. Ash, sycamore, elder and holly seed readily into the base of hedges and walls, and once a stem starts thickening in a wall, it moves the stone as it grows. That damage is steady, cumulative and not reversible by pruning.
A sapling in the base of a wall is a two-minute job. The same stem fifteen years later is a tree, a rebuilt section of wall, and possibly a conversation with the council if the wall is in the conservation area. It is worth walking your boundary once a year and dealing with anything woody coming up in it.
Hedges and borders
A hedge that has swamped a border is really two problems. The obvious one is the width. The less obvious one is that the ground immediately in front of a hedge is the worst planting position in most gardens — dry, shaded, and full of hedge roots competing for water.
Cutting the hedge back returns the space and improves the light, but the roots do not retreat with the foliage. So the reclaimed strip stays somewhat dry, and anything planted there wants to be reasonably tough and watered well in its first year. A mulch helps considerably.
How far can the face come back?
On beech, hornbeam, yew, hawthorn, hazel, laurel, privet or holly — right back to the main framework. These regrow from old wood, look bare for a season, then thicken.
On Leylandii and most other conifers — only as far as the green goes on that face. And the shaded side of a conifer hedge, which is often exactly the side up against a wall or a shed, usually has the least green of all. Check before planning, because it is frequently the side that limits what can be done.
Preventing it next time
- Cut the faces every time, not just the top. Topping alone is what causes this.
- Cut back to the same line each year rather than to wherever the growth reached.
- Taper the hedge, wider at the base, so light keeps the bottom green.
- Keep the base clear of weeds, ivy and stacked material.
- Walk the boundary once a year and pull out anything woody seeding into it.
Got a hedge crowding something?
Tell us what it is up against and how close. We'll tell you what can be done.
More Moreton-in-Marsh Hedge Maintenance Guides
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