{"id":611958849862,"date":"2025-11-08T18:28:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/uncategorized\/pruning-large-beech-hedge\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:42:19","slug":"pruning-large-beech-hedge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/hedging\/pruning-large-beech-hedge\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring an old beech hedge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over a period of 3 years, you make three quite hard prunings.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>In the winter of the first year, cut one of the vertical faces of the hedge <em>almost<\/em> back to the trunks at the centre of the hedge, leaving short stubs of the main lateral branches: most of the regrowth will come from these stubs, so don&#8217;t cut them flush with the trunk. New growth will burst by May.<\/li>\n<li>The following winter, remove the top of the hedge, cutting down to about 9 inches below your desired finished height. Again, it will look sad until May!<\/li>\n<li>In the winter of the third year, remove the other vertical face of the hedge in the same way you did the first.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>By spreading such radical pruning over 3 years, the shock is not too severe and plants recover beautifully. The biggest beech hedge reduction I have seen was from 6m tall by 3m wide down to about 1.5 metres tall by 90cm wide, and it looked good by the end of May or early June every year throughout the process.<\/p>\n\n<section class=\"prodshow-shopify-block\" \n         id=\"prodshow-block-1\"\n         >\n\t\n\t<div class=\"prodshow-container\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- Multiple Products\/Collection View -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-header\">\n\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"prodshow-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRelated Products\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-carousel\" data-carousel=\"prodshow-block-1\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-carousel-viewport\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-carousel-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-card\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/ashridge-trees.myshopify.com\/products\/hawthorn-hedge-plants-crataegus-monogyna\" \n\t   class=\"prodshow-product-link\" \n\t   target=\"_blank\" \n\t   rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\n\t   aria-label=\"Hawthorn Hedge Plants\">\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/hawthorn-hedging.webp?v=1776770280\" \n\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Mature hawthorn hedge\" \n\t\t\t\t\t class=\"prodshow-product-image prodshow-product-image-primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/hawthorn-hedge-bird.jpg?v=1776770280\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Bird enjoying life on a hawthorn Hedge\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t class=\"prodshow-product-image prodshow-product-image-secondary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-content\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"prodshow-product-title\">\n\t\t\t<a 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setting\" \n\t\t\t\t\t class=\"prodshow-product-image prodshow-product-image-primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/green-beech-leaves.jpg?v=1757102573\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Close-up of bright green serrated leaves on Green Beech tree branches showing fresh spring foliage\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t class=\"prodshow-product-image prodshow-product-image-secondary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-content\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"prodshow-product-title\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/ashridge-trees.myshopify.com\/products\/common-green-beech-hedge-plants-fagus-sylvatica\" \n\t\t\t   target=\"_blank\" \n\t\t\t   rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\n\t\t\t\tGreen Beech Hedging Plants\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-meta\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"prodshow-product-price\">\n\t\t\t\t\u00a31.09\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"prodshow-product-card\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/ashridge-trees.myshopify.com\/products\/common-hazel-hedge-plants-corylus-avellana\" \n\t   class=\"prodshow-product-link\" \n\t   target=\"_blank\" \n\t   rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\n\t   aria-label=\"Hazel Hedge Plants\">\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"prodshow-product-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/common-hazelnuts-corylus-avellana-1.jpg?v=1755543128\" \n\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Common Hazenuts on the tree\" \n\t\t\t\t\t class=\"prodshow-product-image prodshow-product-image-primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/common-hazel-mature-tree.jpg?v=1755634319\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Mature Common Hazel tree\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t 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Cut one side; then the top; then the other side.","footnotes":"","merlin_auto_generated":"","merlin_generated_at":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[31,65,113],"class_list":["post-611958849862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hedging","tag-beech","tag-hedges","tag-overgrown"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Restore an Overgrown Beech Hedge in 3 Years<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Step-by-step guide to pruning an old beech hedge back to size using a three-year approach. 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