Trimming a hedge

How to do it

1. 1Check for nesting birds first, any time between March and August — disturbing an active nest is an offence.
2. 2Cut the sides to a slight batter, wider at the base than at the top, so light reaches the bottom and it doesn't go bare.
3. 3Formal evergreens (yew, box, privet) take one cut in early summer and a tidy-up in early autumn.
4. 4Yew will break from old bare wood and can be renovated hard; conifers other than yew will not, so never cut past the green.
5. 5Run a taut line along the top for anything longer than a few metres. Eyes drift downhill.

Plants that use it

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