Thuja hedge trimmed too much: how does it recover?

Hardly any other plant can be found as a privacy hedge in the garden as the thuja. But without suitable pruning measures, the wood will become too high after a few years. Without a pruning, the tree of life often grows beyond ten meters. Many hobby gardeners then start radical pruning - and cut the thuja hedge too much. Find out how to avoid bare hedges and what to do after you've cut the thuja.

Thuja hedge trimmed too much

It is especially critical to have a thuja hedge very radically cut back. Only the young shoots on the outside of the branches are green. If you cut the trees regularly from the beginning, one will form in a short time Opaque hedge. But just a little further inside the young twigs and with them the green are missing. A peculiarity of conifers like the thuja is the peculiarity that the growth takes place exclusively at the tips of the shoots. It is therefore very important that only the young, outer shoots are cut back.

When cutting with a hedge trimmer you should therefore proceed very carefully and shorten a few times rather than one large piece at a time. Because if the bare interior of the plant is exposed, hardly any new green will grow back at this point. You should therefore definitely refrain from pruning down to the hive when conifers are used.

Recognize miscut

As already mentioned, a tree of life does not grow well out of the old wood. If you have accidentally made the cut too deep inside, you can tell immediately by the fact that only brown or bald spots can be seen.

1. Just a few brown spots

It can happen again and again that the branches and with them the green of the thuja hedge grow irregularly and with an ordinary, light pruning, one or the other dried up area comes to light. Does not matter. If these areas are not very large, the shoots around them will grow again within the next period and cover these areas.

• next cut: in the following year at the earliest
• only after a growth of at least 10 cm
• then only shorten it a little

tip: After a while, you can cover the bare areas from the side with green twigs by tying them up.

2. The first cut too deep

If you have cut the thuja hedge too much at the first approach, do not continue this cutting depth to the end of the hedge. With a single plant, the probability is still quite high that it will recover again after a cut. This is no longer so easy with a 20-meter-long tree hedge. If necessary, it is easier to replace a single wood than one whole thuja hedge.

3. Complete thuja hedge cut

Despite warnings, many hobby gardeners keep trying to rejuvenate neglected hedges by radical pruning. The result is usually sobering, because most hedges will never turn evenly green again after this measure and will look very unsightly. However, it is reported time and again by gardeners that the thuja actually recovers after a few years. Such a new sprout is possible, but it can take up to ten years before a noteworthy success is visible. So it takes a lot of patience. Whether you want to wait that long and get annoyed about the ugly hedge in the meantime is a matter of taste.

Supportive measures

Unfortunately, once the thuja hedge has been cut completely, care measures have only a limited influence on the fact that it recovers and sprouts again. But there are several things you can do to support the health and growth of the hedge.

Fertilize

Many hobby gardeners assume that conifers do not have to be fertilized additionally, because after all, they do not get any additional fertilizer in the forest. However, the varieties planted in the garden are more sensitive and grow better with an adapted fertilizer. This is especially important if the hedge has been cut and the now weakened plant has to sprout again vigorously.

• lots of iron, sulfur and magnesium for the needles
• often suffer from magnesium deficiency
• especially on sandy soils
• Direct help: special foliar fertilizer for conifers
• can be taken up immediately through the remaining leaves
• Spray regularly until August (follow instructions on the packaging)
• Additionally: long-term fertilizer (thuja or conifer fertilizer)
• Time: February to August
• in autumn: Kalimagnesia (Patentkali)
• increases frost tolerance

Note: Normal NPK fertilizers are not very suitable for conifers. They contain too much phosphorus and too little magnesium.

Water regularly

Even if the thuja is older and hers Roots deep in the ground reach, it should be watered regularly in times of low rainfall after pruning too deep. This also applies to frost-free periods in winter.

Limit height growth

Should the thuja hedge actually increase in height and you have cut the sides too much so that they are now Brown and are bald? Then you should definitely cut off the upper tip of the shoot. Even if the hedge can then no longer grow much, this step is necessary. Since the main growth of the plant takes place at the top, little energy is put into the side shoots. That changes when they cut off the main shoot.

• Rose shears or loppers
• cap below the last green needles
• Cut at least two inches into the brown trunk

Preventive measures

A regular cut not only promotes the dense growth of the hedge, but also prevents unwanted growth, so that no major shortening is necessary. When pruning, you should always proceed very carefully and it is better to cut away a little several times rather than once a lot. There are different ways to train thuja plants to form an elegant and slender hedge. It is not just important to find the right one Cutting techniquebut also the right time to cut.

Correct cutting

Strong pruning of hedges is only allowed by law until the end of February so that the later onset of the breeding season of the birds that nest here is not disturbed. It is particularly beneficial to cut a thuja hedge before it is sprouting. Because in the new vegetation phase, the wood draws on the reserves created in autumn.

• stronger prunings: end of February
• slight corrections: generally all year round
• frost-free day
• without precipitation
• do not cut in the blazing sun
• preferably in the morning

1. opportunity

Cut the thuja back as far as possible in the upper third laterally and from above. This promotes growth in the lower area and restricts that in the upper area. Don't let the thuja hedge get particularly wide right from the start. In this way, the green part remains translucent almost to the trunk and the plant does not become bald from the inside out.

2. opportunity

You can let the hedge plants grow until they are close to their final height. However, think carefully about the maximum height you want your thuja hedge to grow. A later correction is almost no longer possible. Once the top has been cut, the final height of the hedge is determined. Because only the main shoot determines the growth in height. If this is cut off, the thuja only grows in width, but no longer upwards. On the other hand, you should keep in mind that a subsequent reduction in growth height is always associated with a bare, brown surface.

• first limit the height
• to do this, cut the main shoot
• Do not gradually reduce the page width until the following year
• not the other way around

tip: Do not shorten the sides too much at first, while the tip can continue to grow. The "crown growth" prevents a lush side shoot, as this is the preferred shoot point on the wood.