There is little to turn around: having a cured lawn and ordered hedges has a certain effect, but there is always a lot of work behind. It is not enough to pass once with the tosaerba or give a sprinkling when we want: they need constancy, method and respect for the natural times of the plants.
The lawn requires sowing, fertilization, irrigation and cutting. The hedges, for their part, need targeted pruning, not randomly or only to “put in order”.
Why not throw yourself immediately in September
As soon as autumn arrives, many go on the hedges thinking that it is the ideal moment. Actually no, or at least not immediately. Why? Because in this period many birds find refuge between the branches, using them as protection or as a support point to look for food.
Making a drastic pruning at the end of September means risking to destroy nests still active or disturbing animals that are completing their seasonal cycle. A common mistake, which however has concrete consequences on local fauna.
The best moments to cut the hedges
The main pruning
The most suitable period remains October. Temperatures lower, the growth of plants slows down and the fauna no longer needs hedges as a constant refuge. It is the right time to shape the bushes and prepare them in winter.
The same goes for spring: between the end of winter and the beginning of the hot season, the plants are ready to leave and endure the cuts well.
Light maintenance
During the summer you can only intervene with light cuts, eliminating the branches that grow crooked or dry ones. No drastic pruning, otherwise the new shoots risk not to mature in time and burn with the sun or freeze with the next cold.
Instead when to avoid pruning
There are times when it is better to keep the shears aside:
In these cases, it is better to wait: do not ruin the plants and respect the natural balance of the garden.
A practical advice
The right move is therefore to wait October for serious pruning. Until then limited to the necessary finishes, without exaggerating. And before leaving, you always check what’s inside the hedge: a small inspection avoids unnecessary damage.
Here is a practical hedge pruning calendar, plant per plant.
When to prune the ligustro
When to prune the lauroceraso (or laurel)
When to prune the thunder
When to prune the bosso
When to prune the flowery hedges (such as hawthorn or forsizia)
The general rule is simple: the more decisive pruning must be made twice a year, in the early spring and in October, when the plants are ready to start again or prepare for winter rest. In the summer months we only intervene with maintenance cuts, just to keep the hedge ordered without stressing it, while during the periods of frost or in the hottest weeks it is better to avoid the scissors completely. In any case, before cutting, it is always good to check that there are no nests or bird activities between the branches.
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