You’d expect that your hedges don’t need any due care and attention in the wintertime – it’s cold and not the season to expect any growth on them. But, contrary to popular belief, it’s really important to give your hedges a bit of winter tender loving care!
Caring for your hedges in the wintertime will encourage them to put growth on in the following springtime.
Here are our top 6 tips on caring for your hedges in the winter months:
- Take a good look at your hedges
Take a step back and look at the health of your hedge initially. Look for any damage to the roots or any infestations that may have developed. The winter weather can be very wet and some infestations will thrive in this sort of climate. If these infestations are left, they’ll reproduce rapidly and thwart the growth of your hedge in the following Spring time. Worse than that, infestations could actually kill off your hedge, so it’s best to get them under control at this time of year.
- Keep a seasonal garden diary
Keeping a diary of your gardening jobs throughout the seasons will help you keep organised. You can detail the tasks you do and when, the specific hedges that need particular care and what the outcome was last year. This will give you a good insight as to what works best for the hedge going forward and you can tweak your care plan accordingly.
- Trimming
Your hedges don’t need a massive cut back at this time of year, but they will need a trim. Trimming is actually very important during the winter months because it encourages root growth, which you’ll start to see in the following Spring. Make sure you do not trim the evergreens in the winter.
Cut back any branches that are growing near power lines or other important structures.
Tidy up the other branches using a hedge trimmer.
- Prune spindly branches
Get rid of any spindly branches which will sap growth hormones from the roots of the hedge. Trim away dead leaves and twigs from the base of the hedge and expose the soil underneath.
- Apply a mulch
Applying mulch to your hedges in the wintertime is vitally important if you want to encourage new growth next Spring. A mulch will keep the roots of your hedge insulated from the harsh winter weather. Make sure the mulch does not pile up around the plant stem as this could kill the plant.
- Apply a fertilizer
The best fertilizer to use on your hedges during the winter months is one that has a low nitrogen content. Using this type of fertilizer won’t stimulate any winter growth when food sources are scarce and temperatures are possibly below freezing.
It may be worth mixing your fertilizer in with your mulch for optimum hedge care.
By following these tips and techniques during the winter season, you’re sure to be rewarded with some beautiful and healthy new growth on your hedges when the following springtime comes around.
We hope you like our top 6 tips for caring for your hedges during the winter months. We are Readyhedge – a responsible and ethical nursery, situated in the south of Worcestershire.
We specialise in growing instant hedging in metre-long lengths, available in either Readyhedge bags or Readyhedge troughs. The heights of our hedges range from 30cm tall up to 200cm tall.
If you want more information about who we are, what we do and how we can help you grow the most beautiful of hedges, then take a look at our website www.readyhedgeltd.com or give us a call on 01386 750 585 for any advice you may need – we’d be happy to help!