I don’t like to be the first to say this; I think our trees know autumn is coming early this year.
Have you noticed the chestnut trees in our local parks? There are some beauties in St Nicholas Park Warwick, Jephson Gardens Leamington and Abbey Fields in Kenilworth among others. The chestnut leaves are turning already and the conkers and chestnuts seem a good size too. If you like to forage for wild food, be quick or you’ll miss the blackberries, in some places they are already over, at least 2 weeks before we usually expect it. In the garden and parks summer annuals and bedding plants are almost finished. Perennials are starting to get ready for autumn, with hardly any new growth showing anywhere.
What does this mean for your hedge?
Well, it’s a good time for a final tidy up before the winter. If you delayed pruning in the spring to allow the birds to nest, do it now! A good trim will keep your hedge tidy through the winter and well into spring. If you are training a hedge, creating topiary or encouraging shrubs to grow up or over structures, tie them in ready for the winter and trim off any shoots and branches that are growing in the wrong direction.
It is also a good time to feed and mulch hedges, to help them take up as many nutrients as possible to tide them over the winter. I’ve written in previous blogs how to mulch your hedge with grass cuttings, and these last few cuts of the season provide excellent mulch for the winter.
If your hedge is too much of a handful, give Chopwell a call we have the experience and specialist equipment to bring your hedge back under control. Chopwell, supporting beautiful hedges in Warwickshire.
