So you have your nice shiny garden hedge trimmer sitting in the garden shed, but when should you make use of it?

The usual recommendation is that hedges with deciduous leaves be cut with your garden hedge trimmer in June and October. Evergreen hedges should be cut in April and August. Use your hedge cutter to cut conifers and other fast growing shrubs approximately every six weeks from May onwards.

However, you should also remember the wildlife in your hedge – hedges support an amazing diversity of wildlife, and help support nationally declining bird species. The following tips will help you manage your hedge in a wildlife friendly manner.

Try to avoid cutting your hedge during the nesting season of birds, which is from March to late July. If you do have to make a cut before late July, you should check your hedge carefully for nests first and if you find any then you should leave at least a metre uncut either side of the nest.

You may wonder if you can cut your hedge if you find there are birds nesting in it. All wild birds’ nests are legally protected and to intentionally damage or destroy a nest is a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. If you believe a bird still has eggs or young in a nest then you must avoid cutting that section of hedge until the breeding season is over.

Finally, be considerate to your neighbours – electric hedge trimmers and petrol hedge cutters can create quite a lot of noise, so do be mindful of this when you pick your time to attack the hedge.

Regular cutting with your garden hedge trimmer will keep your hedges looking neat and in control. This is especially important with conifer hedges, as they will seldom re-grow if cut back into old dead wood, resulting in bare patches, so if allowed to grow too large will necessitate removing or replacing the hedge, or accepting a larger hedge.