Trimming hedges and pruning cherry laurel: when, how often, with what
A clipped hedge usually needs trimming twice a year: in late May or June, after the first flush of growth, and in August; fast-growing privet and Leyland cypress even three times. Stop at the end of August so the new growth ripens before winter (yew can be clipped into September). Cut cherry laurel and other large-leaved hedges with secateurs, as a hedge trimmer slices the leaves. Trim the hedge narrower at the top, and if you see a nest in it, wait until the young have flown. Never cut cypress-family hedges back to the brown, leafless part, as they do not regrow from it.
Updated: November 5, 2026 · Prices checked: November 3, 2026 · Data and prices from our plant database, worked out for your country. How our data is made
When to trim a hedge?
A formally clipped hedge is trimmed twice a year: in late spring or early summer, once the first spring growth has grown, and in August, after the summer growth. Fast-growing privet and Leyland cypress are worth trimming three times, slow yew and holly once or twice is enough. Shape an informal, unclipped flowering hedge once a year, after flowering.
Stop trimming at the end of August: growth made later does not ripen before winter, freezes and leaves brown patches. Yew is the exception and can be clipped into September. Do not trim in hot midday sun, as freshly cut leaves scorch; a dry, overcast day is best.
Birds nest from March to August, and hedges are one of their favourite nesting places. In Hungary most wild birds are protected and damaging their nests is forbidden. Before trimming, check the hedge for nests; where there is one, wait there until the young have flown.
Plant by plant
- When to trim
- June–September
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- no, does not regrow from brown wood
- When to trim
- July–August
- A year
- once
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- no, does not regrow from brown wood
- When to trim
- June–September
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- July–August
- A year
- once
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- June–August
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- June–August
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- June–July
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–June
- A year
- once
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2-3 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- no, does not regrow from brown wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2-3 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- June–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- June–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- secateurs
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 1-2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- no, does not regrow from brown wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- no, does not regrow from brown wood
- When to trim
- May–August
- A year
- 2-3 times
- Tool
- hedge trimmer
- Can be cut back hard?
- yes, regrows from old wood
|
Hedge
|
When to trim
|
A year
|
Tool
|
Can be cut back hard?
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
June–September | 1-2 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
Arizona cypress
Evergreen
cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C
|
May–August | 2 times | hedge trimmer | no, does not regrow from brown wood |
|
|
July–August | once | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | hedge trimmer | no, does not regrow from brown wood |
|
|
June–September | 1-2 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
English holly
Evergreen
toxic to dogs, cats, children · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C · thorny
|
July–August | once | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
European beech
Deciduous
|
June–August | 1-2 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
European hornbeam
Deciduous
|
June–August | 1-2 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
June–July | 1-2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–June | once | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2-3 times | hedge trimmer | no, does not regrow from brown wood |
|
|
May–August | 2-3 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
June–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
June–August | 2 times | secateurs | yes, regrows from old wood |
|
|
May–August | 1-2 times | hedge trimmer | no, does not regrow from brown wood |
|
Western red cedar
Evergreen
cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · toxic to dogs, cats, children
|
May–August | 2 times | hedge trimmer | no, does not regrow from brown wood |
|
|
May–August | 2-3 times | hedge trimmer | yes, regrows from old wood |
The table shows the hedge plants sold in your country. The months give the trimming time, the number of cuts is for a formally clipped hedge. “Can be cut back hard” means an overgrown, bare hedge regrows even when cut back to old wood.
How to trim?
- Trim the hedge narrower at the top: a little wider at the base than at the top. On a straight-sided and especially a top-heavy hedge the lower branches end up in shade and go bare within a few years.
- Cut the top straight along a taut string and round the top off slightly: snow settles on a flat, wide top and pushes the branches apart.
- Trim small-leaved hedges (privet, hornbeam, yew, cypresses) with a hedge trimmer. Large-leaved ones (cherry laurel, photinia, holly, Elaeagnus) with secateurs, shoot by shoot: a hedge trimmer cuts the large leaves in half, and the cut edges turn brown.
- Always work from the bottom up, and step back to look at the freshly cut part. Rake the clippings out from under the hedge afterwards.
Pruning cherry laurel
Prune cherry laurel twice a year: in late May or June, after the first flush, and in August. Work with secateurs and cut each shoot just above a leaf, so no half-cut, browning leaves are left. 'Novita' is pruned the same way.
Cherry laurel takes hard pruning well: in early spring, in March or April, you can cut an overgrown, bare plant back even to old, leafless wood, and it regrows by summer. If both sides of the hedge need cutting back, do one side one year and the other the next. Check for nests first.
Cherry laurel leaves and seeds are poisonous: wear gloves when pruning, and do not leave the clippings where children or animals can reach them.
Rejuvenating an overgrown, bare hedge
- Deciduous hedges and large-leaved evergreens (hornbeam, beech, privet, cherry laurel, photinia, holly) can be cut back hard and regrow even from old, leafless wood. Cut deciduous ones back in winter, after leaf fall, beech in February, evergreens in early spring.
- Of the conifers planted as hedges, only yew regrows from old wood. Spread its rejuvenation over two or three years, starting in mid-spring: in the first year cut back the top and one side hard, in the next the other side.
- If the hedge has to come down by half or more, spread the work over two years so the plants are not weakened. Feed, mulch and water after rejuvenating, and it regrows faster.
- Leyland cypress, thuja and false cypress do not regrow from brown, leafless wood: what is left there stays bare. An overgrown cypress hedge cannot be rejuvenated, only replaced. That is why these must be trimmed regularly from the start.
The first years
Trim a young hedge in its first two or three years too, even before it reaches the height you want: cut a deciduous one back by a third after planting, and on evergreens shape only the sides and leave the top until it reaches the height. That way it branches from the base and fills in at the bottom.
How much each hedge plant grows in a year, and so how often it needs trimming, is in the guide to fast-growing hedges; planting steps and plant numbers are in the hedge planting guide.
Sources
The advice rests on these expert pages and laws, adapted to Central European winters and soils. The tables come from our own plant database.
- Natur im Garten: Schnitthecken-Vierteiler – Teil 1
- Stadt Wien: Information Schutzmaßnahmen für Vögel und Fledermäuse bei Baumfällungen und Schnittmaßnahmen
- Nemzeti Jogszabálytár: 1996. évi LIII. törvény a természet védelméről (43. §)
- Slov-Lex: 543/2002 Z. z. Zákon o ochrane prírody a krajiny (§ 35)
- RHS: Pruning hedges
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