Why do hedges die

Hedges are usually considered long lived garden features. A lot of work usually goes into growing and shaping a hedge and therefore once we have it just right we tend to want it to stay that way for as long as possible. For this reason many hedge plants, whilst fast growing are also long lived and should provide beautiful hedges for many decades. Over the life of a hedge there may be times where it does not receive the care and attention it needs and it can become overgrown or unhealthy.

Most hedges can be restored to good health and be returned to shape with a bit of care. A hedge that is very old may be reaching the end of its life span and be better off being replaced with young plants that have a long life still ahead of them.

It can be hard to know if this is the case, especially if you do not have the history and age of the hedge available to you. If there is a significant amount of old dead wood within the hedge this can be a sign of age.

It can also be a sign of plant stress or poor pruning so the hedge may still be able to be restored. Step 2: Remove any dead and diseased plant material. Step 3: Nominate poor performing and affected branches and cut them back hard. Ideally, make these cuts where healthy shoots join the branch. Step 4: Prune off excess growth to encourage air and light movement within the hedge. Step 5: In the case of severely overgrown hedges follow the steps above and additionally remove the top third of the plant to around 20 cm beneath the final desired height for the hedge.

If more than one third needs to be remove do so over two growing seasons. Step 6: If entire plants of the hedge have died back remove them and replace with new strong plants.

Step 7: Always feed and water any hedge well after a hard pruning. The hedge needs energy for the encouraging growth from somewhere and with less foliage it is not able to photosynthesis as well as usual. Step 8: A deep watering less often is always better than shallow regular watering, this encourages a strong deep root system.

Regular watering, however, is necessary for a week or so after cutting back. Larve in your soil? We keep all of our stock pest and disease-free, however we know that sometimes an existing hedge may need a little TLC, so we've put together a guide on the most common problems gardeners face from pests and diseases in the UK.

Not surprisingly aphids are the most common pest you will encounter in your hedge, there are over species in the UK. Aphids are sap-sucking bugs, around 3mm long, that usually infest the young soft growing tips of plants in spring and summer. Vine Weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus.

Vine weevil is a beetle that attacks a wide range of plants, including hedge plants. It is one of the most common garden pests. The adult weevils eat plant leaves during spring and summer, but it is the grubs that cause the most damage over autumn and winter when they feed on plant roots. Adult weevils are difficult to find, coming out mostly at night.

It is possible to place an upturned umbrella under the shrub and give it a good shake to capture the weevils in the brolly. To control the larvae use the microscopic nematode Steinernema kraussei available from garden centres. This tiny creature invades the body of the grub and kills it. Winter Moth Caterpillars. Winter moth is a general name given to a number of species that have adult moths that emerge and lay eggs between November and April.

The small caterpillars emerge in spring and eat holes in young and developing leaves of a wide range of deciduous trees, shrubs and hedge plants. Attacks by winter moth caterpillars are first noticed in spring when young emerging leaves are eaten.

The damage is often first spotted in summer when the leaves are fully grown and the small holes made during the spring have enlarged with leaf growth, by this time the caterpillars have already left the plant. Spider Mites. There are a number of species of these small sap-sucking pests, and they are most commonly found in greenhouses. However, in warm dry summers, they can become a problem for plants growing outdoors too, particularly for box hedging.

Powdery mildews are fungal diseases of the foliage and green stems and are often specific to individual species. They are usually superficial as they cover the surface of the leaf. Powdery mildews have a relatively high water content and can survive in dry conditions and so are often associated with water stress in the host plant.

There are several species of honey fungus, all in the genus Armillaria. This problematic fungus spreads underground attacking and killing the roots of trees, shrubs, hedging and herbaceous perennials.

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