Our Top Guide For Thickening Your Beech Hedge

There's nothing worse than growing your hedge only for it to appear sparse, not only does this ruin the appearance of the hedge but also makes it less useful as a privacy hedge, especially if it is a divider between you and your neighbour. 

Luckily, not all is lost if your Beech hedge is appearing a little thin, there are some pruning and trimming techniques, as well as general care you can do to help your Beech hedge thicken up and bring it back to life. 

We have composed a short guide below which will cover how to thicken up your Beech hedge. 

How Fast Does a Beech Hedge Grow? 

One of the first reasons you might think your Beech hedge plants are thin could be due to lack of patience, Beech hedge plants are one of the fastest-growing types of hedge on the market but do still only grow around 30-60cm a year.

Beech hedges are also popular hedges as they are very forgiving, even when you prune healthier bushes far back, they will still have a fast rate of growth, and the more you trim, the better the growth rate will be resulting in bushier hedges which are great for privacy.

Why Is My Beech Hedge Thin?

If your Beech hedge is starting to thin this could be down to a large number of reasons some among being lack of nutrients or over trimming. 

We have listed a few reasons as to why your Beech hedge might be thinning below and how to fix it. 

• Lack of nutrients - A healthy hedge plant needs to be getting enough food and water from the soil in order to grow, you can always add fertiliser to your growing hedge and supplemental water if you suspect this is the problem.
• Frost burn - During the winter months your Beech hedge might have got frost burn, this can impact the hedge plants growth and result in brown scraggly bushes, however, most should recover eventually.
• No light - Beech hedges are easy to care for with normal growth but if they have a lack of sunlight during the day this can slow their normal growth and result in some branches dying.
• Over trimming - It is very good to maintain and prune your Beech hedge often but over trimming it, once should be around June and the second trim around late August.
• Pests/diseases - If your Beech hedge plants are getting thin, they might have a hedge disease or pests, some could be dangerous fungi and will often have a cotton wool appearance on Beech hedgerows leaves.
• Unbalanced hormones - Beech hedges have two growth hormones called Auxins and Cyotoxins, when these hormones become unbalanced it can cause the hedge to have slow natural growth. This can happen due to weather for example.

Tips For Thickening Up Your Beech Hedge

As we mentioned above, when the brown leaves appear on your Beech tree, not all is lost, and they're a few different ways you can try to thicken up your Beech hedge again and bring it back to life. 

Trim & Prune The Hedge 

Trimming and pruning your Beech hedgerow plants is vital for better leaf coverage and a thicker hedge. You should make sure to trim your hedge at least twice a year and make sure that the bottom of the hedge is wider than the bottom so as the sun will have full access to the bottom of the hedge in order for it to grow properly. 

Pruning your beech hedge once in a while can make a difference in growth areas too and you can even change the direction of growth in your hedge.

Feed The Hedge 

Giving some fertiliser to your hedge can help with growth, just simply sprinkle it around the base of the hedge and work it into the soil.

Replace The Plant 

If you have tried everything to help your Beech hedge grow and nothing is working, you might be forced to replace some of the plants with a new one, just ensure you have permission to do this beforehand if you share the hedge with your neighbour.

Final Words 

To conclude, there are many ways you can help your Beech hedge to grow thick again like excellent hedges just by taking extra care of the bush and trimming it properly, always trim so as the base is wider to allow for better sunlight access for a fuller hedge. 

Make sure to prune the hedge to the direction of growth you want and trim at the correct time twice a year.