Care Sheets & Tips
PLANTING AND GROWING HEDGES
Dig a trench 12 to 15 inches wide and about 12 inches deep, sides extending straight down. Improve the soil by adding peat moss and composted manure and mixing throughly. Bareroots plants are set 1 to 2 inches deeper than they were growing in the nursery and placed in the middle of the trench. They should be planted about one foot apart. (see catalogue for exact distance for each type). Container grown plants are set the same depth they were growing in the pot and placed in the middle of the trench. The trench is then half filled with the soil mixture and filled with water. After the water has drained away fill in the rest of the soil, gently firming it.
Pruning a Hedge To start to train the plants into a dense hedge it is wise to prune one third off the ends of the branches at planting time. This encourages branches close to the ground to develop. Once the plants start to produce new growth higher than 6 inches over the old pruned level, remove it with a pair of hedge shears. Trim the sides as well, but leave 6 inches of growth on both sides from the centre of the plants. Trim a hedge a few inches wider at the base than at the top. The following year, start trimming when the new growth is 6 to 12 inches over the old pruned level. Once the ultimate height of the hedge is reached, keep pruning at the same level, never permitting more than 4 to 6 inches growth before pruning. The best form for a hedge is wider at the base than at the top to allow the sun to reach the slower growing lower branches. If you trim wider at the top, the bottom will soon become bare.
Fertilizing your Hedge: For newly planted hedges, fertilize with PLANT PRODUCTS 20-20-20 water soluble. For established hedges, use on handful of Nurtite Tree Food. 14-7-14, per plant, in April and again in June. For Cedars: use Cedar Feeder 30-1010.
Pest Control: For all hedges but Cedar, spray with Wilson’s Tree and Shrub Spray in May and again in June. If pests persist, spray again. For Cedars” spray with Cygon in early May and/or late August for Cedar Leaf Miner. |
Blue Hollies
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Planting Procedures