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There are hedges in my new house and some have been cut low, at around 1.5m high. It looks fine except it could do with being a bit higher for privacy.
If a hedges height has been cut, am I correct in assumingI it will regrow in height? And roughly by how much per year? (I have no idea what hedge it is.)
Depends who cut them to 1.5m. might have been the neighbours when the old owners moved out 😉
Want to stick a photo of the hedge up so we can at least had a slightly educated guess ?
How tall does the hedge need to be for it to be privet?
Doubt it was the neighbour as it is backing onto a road.
What sort is it?
Might go sideways quicker, some stuff doesn't like the leader being cut out.
Id like it to be 6 to 7 ft.
Onto a road you might need to be clear with whoever flails the hedges you want something higher than standard agricultural hedge. Normally they only side though on a council contact.
Its an access road so I doubt very much that the council would cut it.
I think the previous owner cut it as they have put a lower gate in as well.
Our privet hedge is about 40ft long and 8ft high and left to it's own devices would easily grow another 12-18" per year. With trees and shrubs, there's no height limit, but the hassle of cutting it and dealing with the waste. I'd rather it was only 6ft high as we're 18" higher than the neighbour and climbing a ladder to cut the top is a right faff as its about 3-4ft deep inplaces.
What tools will you use to keep it trim? A pole trimmer makes it quite easy. And what species is it?
A 7ft hedge is quite a bit more effort to trim than a 6ft one.
Another thing to note is that it will be much thicker if you let it grow slower. My parents house had a tall but gappy privet hedge when they moved in, we chopped it down quite low and let it grow up gradually, perhaps 6” a year at most. Improved it hugely.
Hedges grow surprisingly fast. Ours is Laurel and we keep it to about 4.5 feet high. Trim regularly though as it makes life that bit easier. We also have a field at the back and have to go over twice a year to cut back the brambles and wild BlackBerry as it grows incredibly well.
A 7' hedge might be a royal PITA to trim, depending upon how long it is.
Hedge growth seems to depend a lot on the amount of rainfall. A couple of years ago my hedge really sprouted with the very wet summer - half a metre long shoots between trims (normally 3 times through the summer).
I decided to scale back the amount of hedge in the garden but getting rid of it, especially the root balls was a major task. With my hedge whever it gets cut the shoot divides into at least 2 new shoots which makes the hedge grow really thick over time, so lateral thinning is also required.
Hedges can actually be a lot of work throughout the summer and there are a lot less of them than you used to see probably because of the upkeep involved. But I'll keep the hedge along the perimeter of the garden as it is nice for privacy as well as good habitat for bees and the berries provide food for birds in the winter.
You'll need a good hedge trimmer and unless you have one with telescoping attachments it will require using a stepladder to trim the tops as well. I decided to chop mine down to about 1.5m in an effort to save work but needed a saw for the branches, so although a high hedge does provide privacy it also blocks out light and since trimming mine I've noticed a big difference in light levels in the garden and house. I've found it's a good idea to stay on top of the trimming as mine grows out of control very quickly.
Our neighbours just did an extension over the summer and needed* to completely cut the privet hedge to the ground to do so. (*Or it was quicker that way and I was certainly happy with it being quicker.)
It's already 4-5' high and probably looking healthier than prior to being hacked to ground level though the top is a bit ratty I'm sure it will trim nicely come spring.
Laurel on the other hand seems much less Hardy 😀
Once you cut into it you tend to go into the dead area that doesn't seem to regrow.
I think this is just what it is for conifers... be it a Scots pine or Laurel they only grow at the top and sides to compete for light... and the rest dies off.
Beech etc. are "coppicable" so cutting them back essentially keeps them in a constant immature phase.
We still don't know what type of hedge you've got?