Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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Quote from CathyCrochet on 1st December 2023, 8:40 pm
It was -6.5 here in Worcestershire last night, the garden has been a frozen winter wonderland all day. It's forecast to drop even colder tonight. So you can imagine my shock to find that while we popped out for a few hours, our tree guy had been to give our leylandii hedge its annual cut! Question is, will cutting them in this absolutely freezing weather kill them? 🥶🙁
It was -6.5 here in Worcestershire last night, the garden has been a frozen winter wonderland all day. It's forecast to drop even colder tonight. So you can imagine my shock to find that while we popped out for a few hours, our tree guy had been to give our leylandii hedge its annual cut! Question is, will cutting them in this absolutely freezing weather kill them? 🥶🙁
Thanks for asking about pruning hedges in winter or frost.
Why shouldn't you ever prune hedges in the frost
The quick answer is we should NEVERprune plants or hedges with heavy frost.
Why?
Because the frost will damage the freshly cut tissue, meaning it's more susceptible to disease and fungus. They simply don't get enough time to seal and heal before the frost gets in, adding moisture and tissue damage.
Are your llellandi doomed? Probably not, as conifers are some of the toughest evergreens that are used to sub-zero temperatures. It won't have done them any good, but compared to a privet or cherry laurel, it will probably do the least damage. What may happen is sap will bleed out and weaken them. What I'd suggest is having a chat with your gardener about not doing that again and giving them a good mulch in the spring with some peat-free compost.
Thanks for asking about pruning hedges in winter or frost.
Why shouldn't you ever prune hedges in the frost
The quick answer is we should NEVERprune plants or hedges with heavy frost.
Why?
Because the frost will damage the freshly cut tissue, meaning it's more susceptible to disease and fungus. They simply don't get enough time to seal and heal before the frost gets in, adding moisture and tissue damage.
Are your llellandi doomed? Probably not, as conifers are some of the toughest evergreens that are used to sub-zero temperatures. It won't have done them any good, but compared to a privet or cherry laurel, it will probably do the least damage. What may happen is sap will bleed out and weaken them. What I'd suggest is having a chat with your gardener about not doing that again and giving them a good mulch in the spring with some peat-free compost.
Quote from CathyCrochet on 3rd December 2023, 11:08 am
Thank you so much for your reply Lee, super helpful as always! I'll have a chat with the tree guy and keep an eye on the hedge, and then keep my fingers crossed the poor old hedge survives its icy savaging! I'll report back in spring in case it's helpful to anyone else in future.
Thanks again for your advice 👍💚
Thank you so much for your reply Lee, super helpful as always! I'll have a chat with the tree guy and keep an eye on the hedge, and then keep my fingers crossed the poor old hedge survives its icy savaging! I'll report back in spring in case it's helpful to anyone else in future.
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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