Once a hedge has reached a height and width you are happy with, maintain it with regular trimming to remove nearly all young (less than a year old) growth. This is usually carried out once a year on informal hedges, and once, twice or three times a year on formal ones.
While you may need to delay pruning to avoid disturbing nesting birds , these are the optimum timings for trimming hedges:
Formal hedges
Evergreen
Buxus sempervirens (box): Twice or three times during growing season
Ilex aquifolium (holly): Once in late summer
Ligustrum (privet): Twice or three times during growing season
Lonicera ligustrina var. yunnanensis: Twice or three times in growing season
Prunus laurocerasus: Prune twice during growing season
Conifers
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Lawson's cypress): Twice, in spring and summer
× Cuprocyparis leylandii (Leyland cypress): Twice or three times in growing season
Taxus baccata (yew): Twice, in summer and autumn
Thuja plicata: In spring and again in early autumn
Deciduous
Carpinus betulus (hornbeam): Once, in mid- to late summer
Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn): Twice, in summer and autumn
Fagus sylvatica (beech): Once, in late summer
Informal and flowering hedges
Evergreen
Berberis darwinii: Immediately after flowering
Cotoneaster lacteus: After fruiting
Escallonia: Immediately after flowering
Lavandula (lavender): Immediately after flowering
Pyracantha: Late summer
Deciduous
Berberis thunbergii: Immediately after flowering
Forsythia: After flowering, remove some older stems
Fuchsia magellanica: In spring, remove old stems
Rosa rugosa: In spring, remove thin twigs
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