Your beautiful beech hedge is the star of your landscape. These high-value trees offer privacy, without compromising on beauty.

You may have noticed that your beech hedge was not its best this past summer. Our team of Arborists have inspected many of these plants. 

Here is what we have found:

Challenging Locations

As a privacy screen and green backdrop for your outdoor space,  beech hedges are planted along the edges of the property, along walkways, next to pools and next to driveways. These spaces offer little soft scape for your beech roots to thrive, are frequently shaded and expose the plants to reflected heat.

Poor soils

City soils are compacted with limited porespace and lacking in organic matter. Beech hedges need rich, porous soil to thrive.

Water: too much or not enough

Even with irrigation in place, if the soil does not drain properly, the water will not penetrate down towards the tree roots. We have also noticed saturated soils where the water sits on the tree roots and does not gradually drain away leading to root rot and root die-back.

Leaves under attack from Aphids and Mites

Beech trees are a prefered snack for Aphids and Mites. These peircing and suckng pests will damage the leaves of your trees causing browning and a “dripping sap” effect. 

What can be done to protect your Beech Hedge?

Cohen & Master Arborists recommend:

  • Prune back surrounding trees to ensure the hedge receives maximum sunlight.
  • Be mindful when emptying your swimming pool or splashing near the edges. Beech trees do not like chlorine or salt.
  • Set irrigation intervals to appropriate frequency and duration. 
  • Add important nutrients to the soils with compost, BioChar and soil conditioner injections.
  • Aerate the soil and fix the drainage by adding aeration tubes into the root zone.
  • Add regular foliar treatments to your annual hedge maintenance to control damaging pests that feed on the trees.

Contact Cohen & Master Tree and Shrub Services today to set up an appointment with your arborist who will build your beech hedge care plan!

Be Good to Your Trees.

Kristie Nairn, MA, MMst
Cohen & Master Tree and Shrub Services Ltd.