We've finally planted our murrayas - all 70 of them They are now about 15cm high.
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How high do we let them grow before we start to trim them ? And how much do we cut off ?
TIA
Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 12, 2010 3:59 pm We've finally planted our murrayas - all 70 of them They are now about 15cm high. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ How high do we let them grow before we start to trim them ? And how much do we cut off ? TIA Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 2Feb 12, 2010 5:29 pm Right now! Oh man I wish Toparious would post on here more You guys would get blown away by his knowledge in this area. Southies have a squiz at toparious showing basic topiary and hedging skills. The principals are all the same. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9FV7mPprsc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZESELCk ... re=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYdJh5_A ... re=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkiX4pSQ ... re=related There is a 4 and 5 I think but I have not had time to edit them yet. Begin shaping now. Cut them back by half. Cut to just above the nearest node. I might PM you for more If you leave a long exposed node it will slow the growth down significantly. I'll send you some pics of mine I guess. I keep a photo diary. I have sooooooo many photos of this stuff but they are all over the place yes yes, I know, they will only be small then but you want strong dense growth right from the start. I dare you to leave one to grow tall and then clip and do the rest the way Toparious trained me and I will bet you that the ones that get clipped more will be a hedge much quicker Overall, clip them narrow more than the height. You still need to clip the height back too but not as often. This will not stop them getting to the height you want. In fact it will happen much faster this way Toparious is one of Australia's leading authorities on topiary, hedging, espalier and pleaching. He is also the author of the articles as stickies up above He is currently working on something more to offer you guys Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 3Feb 12, 2010 5:53 pm Fu Manchu Begin shaping now. Cut them back by half. But Fu they're sooooo teeny There won't be anything left to see EDIT : Fu what's a node & what does it look like ? Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 4Feb 12, 2010 6:58 pm oH no!!! hang in there yes clip them. they are pretty close too. that is cool becuase in time to come that will reduce the work needed to maintain them. they will compete with eachother a fair bit so they will not grow as fast. The node is where the leaves come out from You want good strong root growth right now, not lush green foliage before your eyes. If the roots are not there to support the foliage then things can go pear shaped. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 5Feb 12, 2010 7:24 pm I've just looked at the youtube clips. I had no idea it was soooo easy . I remember in our previous home, using the large shears & constantly hitting the thicker branches which would be sticking out. Very painful & frustrating. Never thought to cut them couple of times a year with the small cutters Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 6Feb 12, 2010 8:01 pm email sent. Snip out the thicker wood constantly. A few minutes here and there is no work at all. easy stuff. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 7Feb 12, 2010 8:06 pm An effective hedge needs lots and lots of clipping. All mine take no time at all. I might spend about 30mins a month. This will become less and less as time goes on. You'll also get into it a bit more and start to understand what I am going on about in an airy fairy way. Just remember, the more sticky bits you have, the slower the growth. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 8Feb 12, 2010 8:56 pm Southies! Just get in there with the secateurs. It's fun and you really can't go too far wrong.... I hacked at the Little Gems that I planted to screen out the neighbours just a few weeks back, and they've gone from spindly to bushy in next to no time. Snip, snip! Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 9Feb 12, 2010 9:03 pm Southies make sure you get photo's for us! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 11Feb 13, 2010 7:58 am Little word of advice.....dont' let your husband near the sharp implements. Men tend to go nuts when they get a pair of secateurs or a hedge trimmer in their hands. My husband is banned from EVER pruning ANYTHING. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 12Feb 13, 2010 7:59 am kek Little word of advice.....dont' let your husband near the sharp implements. Men tend to go nuts when they get a pair of secateurs or a hedge trimmer in their hands. My husband is banned from EVER pruning ANYTHING. Great advice Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 13Feb 13, 2010 9:33 am No pressure from me I am looking forward to seeing how it goes with Fu's advice 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 14Feb 13, 2010 11:56 am With trees it is very important to shape a plant rather than cut back over the whole thing. This is just one area where tree loppers create the hazards of the future. As for cutting back anything, it is much the same. An initial hap hazard prune is sometimes required so that the shaping can then take place. Cut away branches and stems that cris-cross each other, cut away anything that is growing in a direction you don't want. Look at it like a road map. The branches can be roads. If the road isn't heading where you want, cut it. Or cut it at a point where you can make it head somewhere. Outward facing buds etc. will create new growth in the direction it is heading. let lesser ones develop and then cut close to the node. With an established hedge, renovating it in sections will always be required. Thinning out harder wood and letting softer fresh growth come through. Even and especially natives should be treated in the same manner. Do that and you don't end up with a mess in 3 years or 5 years. Plants will flower far heavier and they will be far less prone to disease or pest. They will be more robust and provided you are fertiliserwise or better still use no fertilisers the root systems will be so much more healthier. No fertilisers essentially means doing things organically or more naturally. So anything clipped from the garden goes straight onto the soil again to be composted. Organic material like sheep or moo poo used regularly, blood and bone, molasses, seasol, powerfeed, worm wee from a worm farm. Then heavy mulching with green mulches from tree lopping mobs and even straws in winter months followed by covering with green mulches in the summer months. This will build soil microbe populations to very healthy levels. The soil will smell sweet and slightly mouldy at the same time. It will provide your plants with the nutrients they need in a much more sustainable way. If you have a big area, buy a mulcher. Shred all the clippings straight back onto the garden. Bugger compost heaps, it's more efficient to do the composting horizontally as mulch. Avoid the great urban tradition of mulching with lawn clippings. That is something that is best composted in a compost heap. When well rotted then apply to the garden beds. Just not cool as fresh lawn clippings. Use a worm farm to take care of any household food scraps and when you flush them with water on hot days or once a week, gather the water and dilute it in a watering can. Magic stuff. All those principals are what will give not only a truly healthy soil but that then in turn creates a truly healthy plant. That will give you growth that you have never achieved before. No man made fertiliser can do that. It also creates a really low maintenance garden. This is what just drives me crazy when people want a low maintenance (as they perceive) Mc Garden. To me they just cost money. Set up a more natural garden and not only does it begin to care for itself but the effort required for it to look good the work gets less and less. Some work to start with but then it pays off. Where as a Mc garden will need replacing in a matter of years. They create no habitat for a diverse fauna population which in itself takes care of pests. Hedging will give honey eaters and small birds a safe place to dart in and out from. This then gives a great deal of joy when you can sit in your garden in a morning with a nice cuppa and soak up the life buzzing about. For anyone reading this, look at many native species to hedge. They love being clipped. Just do it from a young age, no matter what plant. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 15Feb 17, 2010 8:10 pm I'm loving this thread, I too had no idea what a node was or how to go about clipping hedges. Bookmarking this now so I can start off right when my house is ready. Thanks Fu! Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 16Feb 17, 2010 8:19 pm I have sent photos to Southies that shows more detail and visually explains what I crap on about Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 17Feb 17, 2010 9:04 pm Fu Manchu I have sent photos to Southies that shows more detail and visually explains what I crap on about me too PLEEEAAASE progress viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20401 sculptures viewtopic.php?f=36&t=26607 pole trouble viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25988 Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 18Feb 17, 2010 9:05 pm lisanne Southies make sure you get photo's for us! +1!!! progress viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20401 sculptures viewtopic.php?f=36&t=26607 pole trouble viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25988 Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 19Feb 17, 2010 9:20 pm At this point I don't give her permission to share them though. Re: TRIMMING A HEDGE 20Feb 17, 2010 10:02 pm I'm a bit freaked out. I have some baby lilly pilly bush christmas (20cms x 20cms) 1m apart. They look too small to attack with clippers. I have watched the videos but the hedge one only refers to an established hedge and the others are more about making fun shapes. The only shape I want from my bush christmas is a thick 2m high hedge. In this case would I leave it to do its own thing or give it a hap-hazard hair cut? Southies plants are so small I can not even begin to imagine you can even trim these? *Built with Gemmill Homes in WA* Slab - 1st June 2009 Plate Height - 17th June 2009 Lock Up - 18th August 2009 PCI - 5th October 2009 Hand Over - 15th Oct 2009 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20844 |