... to think I've killed it?

[LakieLady]

We have a hedge between us and NDN. It's ancient and leggy and gappy. NDNs are responsible for that boundary, but we put chain link on our side to keep our dogs in and theirs out (after the vicious bastard crashed through the hedge and nearly ripped my dog a new arsehole - the NDN dog actually pulled some fur out of his bum!).

We didn't cut the hedge in the spring. It was pissing wet for weeks, and by the time it wasn't raining we had sparrows and robins in residence.

It had got too tall for my liking and half my lawn was in the shade all day, so I've just cut it right back to the boundary line and reduced the height by about 2'.

It looks fucking dreadful. It's like lots of little saplings about 1 or 2cm in diameter and hardly any green bits. It actually looks dead. I cannot believe it will ever recover and get leaves again. I can actually see through into their garden. I'm sure I've killed it.

Relations with our neighbours were just getting civil after 20-odd years (fine with her, he is a cunt). They're going to be really pissed off if I've killed it.

Is anyone knowledgable enough about hedges to reassure me? It's a lonicera nitida and it's ancient - the hedges were put in in the 1930's when the houses were built and ours is one of the last ones left. I' scared it's too old to recover.

Please tell me IABU...

@Lakielady. Lonicera nitida? Worry not, you will not have killed it - it is one of the most vigorous and tolerant hedging shrubs around, will take a huge amount of punishment and bounce right back. You will probably see regrowth within a matter of weeks. Most shrubs benefit hugely from a jolly good pruning - it reinvigorates them and encourages fresh growth and better flowering. Yes, they often look awful initially, but regrowth can be rapid - nitida is one of these! Granted, certain shrubs have seasonal pruning requirements to avoid the possibility of frost getting in to the cuts, but nitida is not one of them and can be cut in the depths of winter without harm. Think of the craft of hedgelaying, which is usually carried out through winter into early spring, requires the stems to be cut virtually right through and laid nearly horizontally. As soon as the sap starts rising in spring they start to regrow and soon make a thick, rejuvenated hedge.

Thank you for waiting until after bird nesting season before cutting it - nobody, but nobody should be cutting hedges from the end of February until the end of July for this very reason. Farmers are not permitted to do so or they risk losing their subsidies and stewardship payments, except and unless for public safety eg alongside a road where vision is poor. It is high time the same legislation was applied to domestic and commercial hedging - so what if a hedge looks shaggy for a few months whilst it is a valuable habitat for nesting birds?

The first two pictures show the hedge at the end of my garden which I layed in the winter of 2018/19 and the third one shows the regrowth as of early spring this year. Hedges and shrubs are very resiliant

I wanted to add my reassurance to that of others. I had a lonicera nitida hedge, and I cut it right down and back when I moved in (November), because I really didn't care if it died, I wanted rid of both the height and width.

I was left with a brown twiggy mess all winter. It is lovely and green now. I think they are indestructable.

@LakieLady was there any reaction from the neighbours?