Hedges are an excellent way to bring privacy to your yard and home. Moon Valley Nurseries is here to provide you with the best practices and helpful tips on caring for your hedge material. Our nursery pros wrote the book on hedge maintenance to set you up for success on the exciting journey of owning your own privacy greenery.
Before you plant, you will want to make sure to space your hedge material so that they create a lush screen of living privacy in your yard. This will involve deciding how much distance to put between each planting location. Two to three feet will create a dense tree wall, while five to six feet will provide less privacy but a more open feeling to the hedge. It is important to decide on your spacing strategy before planting because it will determine how much trimming and pruning you will need to do in order to keep up with your desired look for your hedges.
1. WATERING
The first step in properly caring for your new hedge is to follow correct watering practices for the current season. Hedge material can vary from tropical, subtropical, and desert varieties in terms of water requirements. Generally, most varieties will need watering once to twice a week in the winter, two to three times a week in the spring and fall, and three to five times a week in the summer. You can always find the complete care information for your specific trees and plants by speaking with our nursery pros or you can find a care guide for your varieties on our website.
2. FERTILIZING
A key part of keeping your hedge trees and plants looking happy and healthy is fertilizing. Hedge material can be either evergreen, meaning they will have a coat of foliage throughout the year, or they can be deciduous, which means they will drop their leaves in the colder months to make way for new growth. For most species of trees that are optimal for hedge usage, a monthly dose of nitrogen-based fertilizer - such as our Moon Dust™ - in the spring and fall months is ideal. Many varieties will also greatly benefit from monthly applications of our Landscape Soil Conditioner during the summer months. This will tailor the soil to maximize the performance and appearance of your hedges.
You can also use our Supercharged Moon Juice™ throughout the year to provide a substantial boost to your hedge’s root effectiveness, ensuring they soak up all the necessary nutrients and minerals available!
3. TRIMMING
Knowing how to correctly trim your hedge material is another essential part of owning beautiful, full privacy hedges. Trimming should be done to shape your hedges to your liking, as well as keep them thick and full. This can be done by following a few simple guidelines. You can trim the sides of the foliage for more upward growth, or gently trim the tops to promote a wider growing pattern. Be careful when trimming to never cut back more than two-thirds of the overall foliage of your trees and plants.
As always, when it comes to any trees, palms, or plants in your yard, you can always call our nursery pros with any design, planting, or care questions you have. Our knowledgeable experts are here to set you up for success in owning your own trees and plants. Our website also has care guides for many of our top selling tree and palm varieties.
You can find the care guide for your trees here!
A huge aspect of having the yard of your dreams is designing your yard to ensure your trees, palms, and plants are well-placed for proper style, sun exposure, water needs, and growth patterns. Our professional landscape designers are happy to consult you in designing your yard for the best results and a landscape you will enjoy for years!
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