Lopping the tops off conifer hedges

Lord_Gardener

barberboy wrote: »

Hi,

Does lopping the tops off conifer hedges stunt their growth perminantly or do they need to be regularly lopped?

What type of conifer does your neighbour have? If one of the fast growing types such as Leyland or Lawson Cyprus I'll often have to cut them 3 or 4 times a year to keep them in check and in good shape! A number of times I've had to chain saw out the tops/centre of 20 - 30 foot hedges and then train in side shoots over a couple of years to cover the brown top! In England if the hedge is over 6 foot and you don't get co operation from your neighbour, you can take the case to your local council for arbitration and often it is the case that your neighbour will have to pay for the hedge to be cut (reduced in height and size) and the arbitration fees - I've been involved with a few of these! Let's hope the Law changes in Scotland soon for you.

barberboy

Lord_Gardener wrote: »

What type of conifer does your neighbour have? If one of the fast growing types such as Leyland or Lawson Cyprus I'll often have to cut them 3 or 4 times a year to keep them in check and in good shape! A number of times I've had to chain saw out the tops/centre of 20 - 30 foot hedges and then train in side shoots over a couple of years to cover the brown top! In England if the hedge is over 6 foot and you don't get co operation from your neighbour, you can take the case to your local council for arbitration and often it is the case that your neighbour will have to pay for the hedge to be cut (reduced in height and size) and the arbitration fees - I've been involved with a few of these! Let's hope the Law changes in Scotland soon for you.

supposedly its changing in this parliment so here's hoping! cheers

tomterm8

peter_the_piper wrote: »

When pruning conifer hedges always take the central leader down about 6" below the top of where you want to keep the hedge at. This allows the rest of the surrounding stems to grow. You will have to trim them back about twice a year. Remember that very few conifers grow out of brown wood so do not cut too far into the the sides.

Conifers are massive trees. If you don't cut them regularly, they will grow a lot taller than your house. Cut them at least once a year.