How to Trim a Cedar Hedge
- 1). Trim your cedar hedging in the early spring as the buds are swelling but before they elongate and unfurl.
- 2). Remove only dead or broken branches and discolored foliage to maintain an informal hedging style. Cut back to a healthy lateral branch that still has foliage attached or down to the parent branch or trunk, if needed. Follow the natural outline of the shrub, hiding cuts strategically behind surrounding foliage.
- 3). Shear the branch tips enough to maintain the desired height and width of the hedge to contain formal style hedging. Keep the hedge in a slightly sloped form, wider at the bottom, so that sunlight can reach the lower branches and they do not become defoliated. Shear off only 1 to 2 inches and never cut into bare wood, as the foliage cannot regenerate on the branch once this occurs.
- 4). Repeat a very light shearing on formal style hedges in the early summer to control new growth if needed to maintain the desired shape.
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