how hard can I cut back a Beech Hedge ?

[kingsley07]

I need to cut back an established Green Beech hedge to 900mm to comply with some Planning Regulations, but am worried that this may be too severe, and the Hedge may not grow back.

The current hedge is around 2m high and 1.5m wide, and has been established for many years. My alternative would be to completely remove the existing hedge and re-plant with fresh Bare-rooted stock.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Janet W]

You mentioned the regulation height at 900mm. Approximately 36", that would mean you would have to trim the hedge by 1/4 of its size. Yea, I agree that is alot to take off at once. If your only other option is to replace the whole hedge, I would go ahead and prune it and see what happens. Nothing to lose if you are going to replace as your only other option. It may not survive, if it does, bonus. I looked up Beech which is Fagus (genus) and I could only find trees, not shrubs. Do you know what species it is? Pruning practices vary from species to species and this info would help. Janet W

[kingsley07]

Janet,

thanks for the response. As you say, I've nothing to lose so I'll go aghead and trim it.

[Janet W]

Your very welcome.

[Newt]

Hi Kingsley,

I agree with Janet. Give it a go. Here's some UK sites on hedges that might be helpful.
[url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/pruning_prunehedges.shtml]BBC Gardening Site[/url]
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0101/hedge_renovation.asp
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0500/hedges.asp
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0203/hedge_laying.asp
https://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/gvt030.asp

Newt

[Ashridge_Trees]

Hi

Your hedge will be fine. As long as it has always been grown as a hedge, you can take it down by up to 50%. Just be sure to do it in December/January when you have a frost free window of at least 48 hours. In Spring give the plants a boost with a little quick release fertiser like Growmore.

Janet - you are right - Beech is Fagus sylvatica. Here in the UK it is widely grown as hedging - although the leaves die in winter, they stay on the hedge until new foliage appears in spring. It comes as copper beech too, and is probably second only to Yew as a formal hedge.

Best

Julian
Ashridge Trees

[Guest]

When trimming, put a string line at your required height and trim only those plants that are higher than your line. Prune late summer until frost. Only trim lightly until well established. Lightly trimming the sides encourages new growth at the base of the plant so filling out the hedge