shape your hedge

Hi i dont know if anyone can help me, ive planted 4 hedge cut offs in my garden, there about 6 to 7 inchs high and in a row about 10 to 12 inches apart. I want to shape them into a rectangle and join them up to make one hedge but i dont know how to shape them do i start shaping them now or wait untill there at the height i want them to be then start to shape them??? please help!!!!

Hi...What hedging plant are they and how high do you want them to grow eventually?

hi! errrm im not sure what hedge they are just a standard hedge that everyone has in there garden that they use as a fence and maybe 3 to 4 feet tall and about a foot in width!!

Without knowing what shrub they are, it's a difficult one to answer properly. But I would suggest you leave them until they are a couple of foot high. You could trim either side when they get dense enough to make them 1' wide. Could you describe the leaves or may be take a pic the small ones or one of the parent and post on here. There are so many different hedges that are common. It could be privet, box, lonicera etc. Once we have something to go on, we can help you with the time it might take to grow and how and when to prune it.

 hi here are 2 pics of whats growing in my back garden now but i got them from the front hedge!

That looks like privet.

Privet is a very common hedge.

You don't need to do anything. As those little plants grow up, they will each branch out, and will naturally merge together.

You just need to keep the sides trimmed.

ok, there growing rather quickly so ill put more pics on at a later date to show you guys how they pan out. Thanks everyone for your help i very much appreciate it!!!

Hi Richard

Your pritet hedge will keep growing until it reaches about 3 to 4 meters high and leggy if left untrimmed.  You need to keep them under control.  My advice would be to trim the top and sides as soon as they are about 2 feet high.  Then trim them twice a year to the shape required.  Even if they get out of control, once they are established, you can trim them very severely because they are a difficult plant to kill.  The golden privet is a nice hedge also and a little easier to control.  They are both evergreen, and good for birds to nest in.

hi yeh i know what you mean about the size of them theres one up the street from us and its huge but i dont want it anywhere near that size lol! cheers for the advice!