Thuja Brabant is the ideal plant for an opaque hedge. In order for this hedge to become and stay nice and dense, you have to cut the tree of life at least once a year. What should you pay attention to when cutting Thuja Brabant?
How do I trim a Thuja Brabant hedge correctly?
When cutting Thuja Brabant, you should prune in spring and topiary in early summer. Avoid cutting too deeply and aim for a conical shape to keep the hedge dense. Use sharp, clean tools and protect yourself from the poisonous plant sap.
Do you need to cut Thuja Brabant?
If you want to maintain a beautiful, dense Thuja Brabant hedge, you can't avoid cutting it. The following cuts are necessary:
- pruning
- Topiary
- Blending
- remove diseased shoots
- cut into shape
The best time to cut Thuja Brabant
The pruning, which can be done heavily, is done in early spring, before the thuja sprouts.
The best time for topiary is early summer. Here we only thin out and remove protruding shoots.
Basically, you can cut Thuja Brabant at any time. You should only avoid cutting on very sunny or frosty days.
How do you have to prune the tree of life?
Even when pruning heavily, you should not cut too deeply, and especially not into old wood. Thuja Brabant does not sprout again in these places. If possible, do not shorten the thuja behind the green shoots, as this will cause gaps to form. It takes a long time for these to close again.
Choose a slightly conical shape when cutting the hedge, too. Then more light penetrates into the lower regions and the thuja hedge remains tight inside.
The right tool for cutting Thuja Brabant
To cut Thuja Brabant in the hedge, it makes sense to purchase an electric hedge trimmer (€88.00 on Amazon). For individual trees, normal pruning shears are sufficient.
Make sure your cutting edges are clean so that you don't transmit any diseases. The tool should also be very sharp so that the interfaces do not tear.
If the hedges are very long, it may be worth commissioning a specialist company to cut them. The costs for this are limited and you save yourself a lot of work and having to dispose of the cuttings.
Caution: Thuja Brabant is poisonous
Thuja Brabant is poisonous. Poisoning is possible if parts of the tree of life are consumed. But the plant sap can also lead to unpleasant reactions if it gets directly onto bare skin. Therefore, wear long-sleeved clothing and protect your hands and face when cutting arborvitae.
Put trimmings on the compost?
The cuttings can easily be disposed of in the compost if the tree of life is he althy and pest-free.
Chop up the leftovers so they rot faster. Also, mix them well with other compost materials. Thuja compost is slightly acidic and is improved by the mixture.
Tip
If you would like to harvest cuttings from the Thuja Brabant, tear them off the tree of life before cutting. These so-called cracked cuttings root much faster than cut cuttings.
