Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Mar 07, 2014 7:00 am We've recently planted Lilly pillies along the front of our block which we aim to develop into a nice hedge over time. The land is quite sideways sloping (we are on a hill) so wondering if it's better to trim the tops level / flat or to follow the slope of the hill? Any other tips on pruning (technique, frequency etc) mush appreciated! Re: Best way to trim Lilly Pilly hedge - sloping land 2Mar 07, 2014 1:19 pm My advice would be to trim the tips of the stems all over every few months or so because this will cause the bushes to grow more stems and look thicker. I planted a hedge about a year ago and I`ve been trimming the tips of each bush once every few months and they`ve thickened up much more and look a lot fuller. I`ve also trimmed the tops of the bushes which makes them spread sideways more and fill out into a hedge quicker. I`d have to see a picture of your yard and hedge to tell if you should cut it on a slope or level because I cant tell what would look best from imagining it. My hedge runs most of the length of my block and its on a fairly big downward slope and im planning on trimming them so that they`re even with the slope, if I trimmed them so that they were level from start to finish then at the bottom I`d probably have a 5 metre tall hedge . I hope I`ve helped Re: Best way to trim Lilly Pilly hedge - sloping land 3Mar 07, 2014 1:21 pm Oh and another tip, I prefer to use normal manual hedge trimmers instead of electrical ones as I`ve found that some electrical ones just pull and drag the stems and leaves and don't cut very well Re: Best way to trim Lilly Pilly hedge - sloping land 4Mar 07, 2014 3:23 pm Hi Mikandlos,When ever you start a hedge the first thing to do is cut all the branches that are going to form the top of the hedge a quarter of an inch above the third node from the top of the branch with a straight cut and you will find that each branch will throw out between three and five new branches within two weeks.Also the next one or two nodes below the cut will throw out new shoots so you have a much thicker plant foliage wise. Another thing to remember is when you clip the sides and ends of the hedge always clip upwards so you are cutting each branch at an angle with the wound on the outside.You do this because if you cut at an angle you only get one stem instead of multiples and the new growth grows into the hedge and you will never have any gaps. I agree with the other team member about only using shears as the electric ones are not always as sharp as they should be and instead of cutting the plant,they shred it and it takes a long time for it to grow back. If I were in your position I would cut with the slope of the block because a buttress hedge always looks far superior. Topiarius Re: Best way to trim Lilly Pilly hedge - sloping land 5Mar 08, 2014 10:40 am I prefer the big snips too - rather than electric etc. And - you'll learn as you go. Don't go overboard but if you make a mistake just learn from it. Manual allows some degree of "friendly" error. My only tip - don't wait till its too late - do it regularly. 4 9060 I have stone pavement (?) in my backyard around the pool. I have not tended to them and so there is moss growing on them. I intend to clean them but was wondering what the… 0 726 7 3005 |