Is there anything you can do about an ugly hedge?
by
Amu23193635
+5
I am thinking of taking it down. It's in the front.
Related Discussions
Suggested Project Book
Hi Amuttmuse, Not knowing what kind of hedge you have, I took a gamble and found you a link that explains how to make it pretty again! http://homeguides.sfgate.com/improve-old-boxwood-hedges-42346.html
Hope this helps!
If you can't shape it or trim it to a nice shape or surround it with flowers or plants to help camoflauge it, you may want to dig it up and find something more appropriate.
If you don't like it, cut it down. It's practically impossible to make an overgrown, neglected hedge attractive again.
Had the same problem and took a gamble cutting it down to 1 ft high last fall with goal of it either coming back on its own or replacing plants. It came back and looks great. Cleaned out some of the dead branches this spring and it has filled in looking like brand new hedge!! If in no hurry .... might give it a try before spending funds.
Its bare bones at the bottom, so probably cutting won't do any good, but perhaps, getting rid of it is the idea. Thanks.
Trim it down to very low and see how it grows back. If you still don't like it, remove it and plant something new. Sometimes, shrubs just become straggly and overgrown with age, and there is nothing that can be done to improve their appearance. If you look on my profile page here, you can see what we did with the old, overgrown shrubs in our front yard.....It made a huge difference!
if you want some sort of barrier out front - I would only CUT BACK or CUT DOWN every other plant or every few feet etc. - let the other plants fill it in and after being cut back - the new growth might blow you away!
You can trim them down to the height that you would prefer them to be. They might look a little jenky for a while and you'll need to water and fertilize it while it recovers. But as long as you keep it trimmed to your preferred height it will fill back in nice and full and stay looking beautiful for years to come. Good Luck! And remember to BE PATIENT!! It's a plant, not something you just purchased from the big box store for instant satisfaction.