[thomas]

Hello, i have a few problems in my garden at the moment.

One is the back hedge, it has been left to it's own for the last 7 years, i moved in two months ago and started cutting back a little with the possible intention of replacing it with a fence however i would prefer keeping it in-front of the fence!

The main issue is height! At the moment it has grown to about 5 metres and really needs to be topped, my question is what would be the best tool and/or way to do this? It is also about 3 metres deep, i have already cut back quite a bit on the garden side but don't want to cut back to much more at the moment, at least until it grows a few leaves. Reason being there is a park behin the house and if i cut it back too much anyone will be able to see into my garden!

Second issue is with pine hedges, I need to put a fence behind one but don't want to get rid of it, how much can i cut it back to make neough space for me to work on the fence without stopping it from growing back??

May upload some pictures over the weekend if that helps.

[medieval knievel]

most important piece of info is what sort of hedge is it?

[thomas]

very good question, would pictures help you recognise what type because i really could not tell you?

[James Kilkelly]

Yep, pictures are king when it comes to this kind of query Thomas.
All hedges cannot be treated equal by the pruners.

Tutorial here for image adding on this site.... http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about32.html
Pay special attention to the 256 KB image size limit.

[medieval knievel]

is it evergreen? if so, does it have leaves?

[thomas]

The back one that has grown to about 6 metres has leaves and the trunks are becoming tree sized!

The one on the side is evergreen