The house I bought recently was not completely fenced so there were deer in the yard who ate the lower parts of the cedar hedge over many years (see photo). I have now fenced the property so there are no more deer. There is still some green growth on the bottom of the hedge. I am wondering whether the bottom of the hedge will eventually grow out to fill in the gaps. Should I be clipping the upper part of the hedge back to allow more sunlight to reach the lower branches? I know that I can't clip the hedge back too far into the old wood so I'm not sure if a minor clip will do any good. I'm looking for advice.
Letting more light in will surely help - and even just a few inches off the thickness in the area above the deer damage zone should be enough if you repeat annually (or twice a year) until the lower portion has caught up again.
I think it will be ok as is. We have a lot of cypress heging around here on the edge of paddocks as wind breaks for bulb farms. One up the road is trimmed by cattle (was) Since they are no longer there and the hedge is happily growing out again. I would wait a year or so before trimming. Yours looks pretty good. Liz
