When to cut hedges...

Morning everyone.

I'm getting highly confused as to when is the right time to cut back hedges. I've read that now is ok, and also autumn. There's one hedge that I could really do with cutting back as it's looking rather woeful. It stems from our neighbours garden but they've cut their side right back to the boundary and have been relying on us to let it grow to add privacy. That in itself is fine but we've lost about 3ft of the garden now because of it. It's also looking a mess and isn't growing very well so I thought that if it was cut now it would have time to put on some new growth before the winter months came. I think all the nesting birds have finished but wouldn't attempt a cut if there were still nests in use.

Can anyone give me advice? Thank You. xx

 

Morning,
I can't say about birds, I see that birds coming into my garden have their 2nd generation of teen chicks. Don't know if they gonna go for the 3d.
For me 3ft of my only 6 meters wide garden would be too valuable loss of the space. I would cut the hedge back to boundary and offer all the branches to them as required legally . Ideally your neighbours should be keeping it 10-20 cm away from boundary level, so that they could trim it from there.
And then I would plant whatever I want for privacy.
Hedges can be cut now, so new growth gonna be produced till autumn when can be trimmed again. Or as final one in autumn.

 

End of March to Beginning of July is on my calendar,to be sure of no nesting. That is how it was when I worked for the Railway. Now is a good time for the hedge to get a trim up so it can put on a bit of growth prior to winter coming back and stopping any new shoots.
My Hornbeam is due to be cut now and will be if my body will allow it. I shall over the next few weeks take it down to a 3 foot level as it is over 8 foot. Need to keep it under control as we need to downsize from the large house to a small bungalow.

 

Thank you all for your replies. I'm going to give it another week or two and will be keeping a close eye and thoroughly inspecting the hedge to check for any nesting.
I'm not sure what type of hedge it is @JWK I know there's holly in it and shed loads of ivy which neighbour lets go rampant along the hedge and our house.
One part of our house forms part of the boundary wall and I won't begin to tell you the issues we have with where they've planted high growing shrubs and placed a shed right opposite a window. Not the best of neighbourly relationships sadly.

 

@Joolz You probably already know this, but hedge holly is best pruned with secateurs not a hedge trimmer. Also makes clearing up less painful. The good news is that holly will come back from a good prune.

 

Thanks @NigelJ thankfully the holly section of it isn't too much to cope with so I should be ok to cut it with secateurs. Mind you, It has been cut with a hedge trimmer in the past and has come back fighting fit each time.

 

@Joolz Yes it will come back alright, it's just that the largish holly leaves don't look brilliant when cut in half.

 

She will continue to incubate but is vulnerable to predators. I think it would be best if you could place some of the branches and trimmings over and and around to hide her and her nest to give protection. She and her mate will hopefully find their way in. Otherwise the Magpies are likely to take her eggs or chicks.

This illustrates how easily it is to miss a nest when hedge cutting, even though you checked it still happened. This is why it’s not recommended to cut hedges during the breeding season which extends through August for some species.

 

@shiney , it is good that you have taken the precautions you state, particularly regarding laying branches over the nests. Perhaps you could add even more as you see the route in and out that the parents are using. My comments are as a birder and reasonably knowledgeable about nesting birds. Bearing in mind that we do not know at what stage this nest is at, it could be up to a month before the young fledge; approximately 2 weeks incubation and 2 weeks before the hatchlings fledge.

Meanwhile your resident Magpies are close; they will not stay further down the garden if alerted to the comings and going of nesting Blackbirds! They too have juveniles to feed. My personal observations are that nest predation by corvids, including Crows, usually occurs at dawn when people are not around and the prey species parents are actively feeding and attending to the young. (My statement re Magpies above in my previous post is an example.) There are other avian predators as well as cats.

This is a link with info on nesting Blackbirds. Blackbird Breeding | Season & Brood Facts - The RSPB

These comments are not meant as an attack. My concern is for the nest and I do wish every success. I just wanted to point out how cutting hedges during the nesting season is bad for nesting birds. Sometimes no matter how good and thorough one thinks the search is, nests are missed. That’s the point.....Birds choose safe hidden places to nest and if the nest site becomes exposed, predation is likely.

As an aside, there is a reason farmers are not allowed to cut hedges between March and the end of August. The same should apply to us gardeners.

 

Trees should not be cut back during the nesting season either for exactly the same reason.