hawthorn hedge- severe pruning...

Hello everyone, wonder if you could advise me as to when is the best time to cut back the hawthorn hedge at the rear boundary of my garden?

The hedge is well established being,I believe,old as the house (1938). Its current height is approx 8ft, (2.4mtrs.) and I would like to reduce this to 6ft. I am quite happy to wait for the best time for both the hedge and the critters that live within even if it is eleven months away.

Hope you can help...

 

Hi Vulcan City,

and welcome to Gardeners Corner.

I'd leave it till it goes dormant in the winter, that way you'll be sure there are no birds nesting in it & the birds will have fed off the berries.

 

January or February No earlier.

 

I agree. Wait til it's dormant and all the berries have either fallen, been eaten, or gone rotten, but well before its due to wake up again.

You can't really put a month to that because it depends where you are and the prevailing weather conditions. Up my way you'd be looking at mid december to mid february.

If you time it right, hawthorn thoroughly enjoys the occassional good haircut. It rejuvenates it. I'd suggest you take it down to about a foot lower than the height you want it, because cutting it stimulates it into growing like mad.

If its grown leggy (huge gaps at the bottom of the hedge), another option is to lay it. Some say its a bit tricky, and I guess it is if you want to win any competitions, but if you just want a dense and healthy hedge, its quite easy really.