Hedge turning brown after pruning

[hedgey]

hi guys, 

• I have a small hedge in the backyard. It became overgrown and I had a guy out to trim / prune. Unfortunately it now has some brown and yellow leaves. It looks like it’s been cut too short. I’ve never had an issue before when doing maintenance and I’m not sure what I can do to repair. First photo is ‘before’. Only one I had and was talking do the window not hedge. The after is today after I watered. It’s difficult to get a clear photo as it’s mainly short stems on top and all the brown and yello leaves behind towards the back. It’s quite patchy. 

[BradN]

Hi @hedgey 

That hedge looks fine to me. It won't be long before new growth sprouts and has it looking nice and green again.

All hedges look a little bit ratty when they're first pruned. It's just a necessary part of the cycle.

Cheers,

Brad 

[hedgey]

Hi @BradN 

thank you for the reply. He did prune it a few weeks ago and I wasn’t sure if I needed to do anything extra… water more etc 

thank you 

[BradN]

Hi @hedgey 

I wouldn't think you'd need to do anything special. If you haven't had any rain lately maybe give it a good watering. 

By the way, the hedge probably hasn't turned yellow or brown since he pruned it. What I suspect has happened is that when he pruned off all the young green leaves he just exposed the older leaves deeper in to the plant.

As a hedge plant grows, the new leaves on the outside of the plant get all the sunlight and they cast shade on the older leaves inside. Since the older leaves aren't getting sunlight they're no use to the plant, so the plant sucks all the valuable nutrients back out of them, which causes them to turn yellow and then brown (it's the same process as with autumn leaves), and then those leaves just fall off. 

I'm sure you'll get lots of nice new growth soon and it will look great again. If you still think there are problems in the new year, by all means let us know!

Cheers,

Brad

[hedgey]

ok great. Thank you for the explanation. I wasn’t sure! I do have another section on the other side. Unfortunately an old gardener trimmed them all and they haven’t come back after months. Is there anything you suggest for these to grow again? Thank you @BradN 

[BradN]

@hedgey Do you know exactly what those plants are? It looks like the one closest to the camera is growing back but the ones on the other side of the tap don't look great. 

A lot of grassy and strappy plants can be given fairly severe haircuts, but there are others that you shouldn't treat that way.

Perhaps garden gurus @EricL , @Adam_W and @Noelle or one of our other regulars can help... 

Brad

[hedgey]

Thank you. 

I don’t know what plants they are unfortunately, they were already here. They were all the same as the one growing back but they haven’t as yet. 

thank you. 

[Adam_W]

@hedgey I ***think*** there are actually at least two different plants in there.
Furthest away looks to be the same as in the bed that's in full sun which is just visible in extreme top right corner of photo. They are Dietes.
Closest to the camera very hard to tell but could be Dianella or possibly even cymbidium orchids. If there are bulb-like things at the base then they are cymbidiums.
The second one along, directly under the tap, looks like it might be kangaroo paw.
Best way to confirm they are all different is take a leaf from each and compare side-by-side.

[EricL]

Hello @hedgey

Would it be possible for you to post a closer photo of the leaves and a photo of the other one at the far end? This will give us a better idea of what kind of plant you have. Aside from stressing the plant out after trimming another possible reason that it has not grown back is because of lack of nutrients in the soil. Perhaps a little application of Seasol 600ml Concentrate Liquid Fertiliser might liven it up. Please remember that Seasol is a concentrate and must be diluted before applying to the plant. 

We look forward to seeing the photos.

Eric

[hedgey]

@EricL @Adam_W  hey guys. I think these photos can be helpful? Adam, yes they are deities. They really just survive themselves. It was suggested on here a while I go to trim them which I did but now they seem fine. I was worried they won’t come back lol

 same with the hedge. It’s quite bare underneath now and it’s a super final layer on green in front and all bare branch behind so fingers crossed.