Cutting a box hedge

[Taxboy]

Looking for some advice please on cutting box hedges in our garden. I will be using electric hedge trimmers and string between a couple of canes - because I don't have a straight eye

It's about 3ft high by 18inches wide and surrounds a square flower bed with 90 degree turns

One question I have is do I cut the sides first before the top or doesn't it make any difference.

Any other tips from the combined gardening wisdom on here much appreciated

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[BillyCasper]

You are lucky to still have Box. Ours has been destroyed and pulled up because of Box moth caterpillar. The hedges in the entire neighbourhood are in a very sorry state. Take precautions if it has invaded your area.


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[Taxboy]

You are lucky to still have Box. Ours has been destroyed and pulled up because of Box moth caterpillar. The hedges in the entire neighbourhood are in a very sorry state. Take precautions if it has invaded your area.


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Sorry to hear that. Touch wood ours is not looking too bad and hasn't got the dreaded blight

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[fierbois16]

Cut the sides first, then you will get a nice tight edge on the top. Decide if you are levelling to the lowest point or allowing the low point to grow into the line. You can't really go to far wrong, if healthy buxus is pretty resilient.
Good luck

[Richard.]

Just go for it and experiment. If you get it wrong it will soon grow back.

[blackal]

When you are cutting the sides and top(especially) - don’t keep the blade of the trimmers parallel to the cut (in the case of the top - horizontal)

Instead - angle the trimmer downwards by 30deg and then run your horizontal cut. It cuts cleaner without laying-over the leaves/stalks.

Just re-planted 12 new plants at a (shared) cost of £300. Previous plants suffering from box-blight. Last chance for them - won’t be continually throwing money at them.

[Onelasttime]

Check there are no nesting birds first. They can be there until about August.

[davide]

You are lucky to still have Box. Ours has been destroyed and pulled up because of Box moth caterpillar. The hedges in the entire neighbourhood are in a very sorry state. Take precautions if it has invaded your area.


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I'm spraying ours regularly with XenTari which is a bacillus that targets the caterpillars without harming anything else. It kills them very effectively.

The box is recovering slowly, but regular treatment is needed.