Hemlock hedge, some have multiple "main leader"'

[Joseph Acquisto]

A few years ago, I had a commercial outfit, well known and recommended (and priced accordingly) plant a row of hemlock for me. I was OK with it at the time, not knowing any better.

One issue was they always seemed a bit sparse to me. Well, they will fill in.

Come this spring and I went to trim them a bit, I realized that several of them have two or more "main leaders". I only recently became aware that they should be cut back to a single main leader. However, if I cut one of them the hedge will look a bit lopsided. Should I just leave it as is, or put up with an eyesore for a year or two, for long term health?

A second issue is that, these folks could not supply me with any more last year and I had to hunt up another supplier. I did find one only a few miles further away, each tree at half what they charged me. Plus, these are much fuller and have only a single leader. ALL their trees had only a single. I guess that is just a vent, as I don't know where to go from there.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Do you want this to be a hedge or just a row of trees? How tall do you want them to eventually be or are happy with them being as tall as they get?
If you want them lower than the natural height, then everytime you trim the top, you will get multiple leaders, something you have to live with.

Got some pics? Give us an idea of what you want them to look like at the end of the day.

 

[Joseph Acquisto]

Hedge was always my intent. The taller ones are about where I would want them, 6 or 7 feet. My main concern with the multiple leaders was the perhaps mistaken belief this would delay their growth and filling out.

You can see that the originals even 3 years after transplanting, have not filled out much. I got hit $150 per (planted) for those. The two that are more dense, I got from another outfit and dropped in just last fall after the big Spruce was taken down.

I am OK with as many thick trunks the tree wants to have, as long as it fills out well and can be formed into a hedge, of sorts. Privacy screen is really all I am after here. Can I expect the scragglier ones to fill out?

 

[Joseph Acquisto]

Any comments?

 

[BC WetCoast]

Just hedge them at the height you want them to be. Make sure they don't get drought stressed in the summer (water deeply - minimum hour - a couple of times a week). Some fertilizer wouldn't hurt.

The scragglier ones will probably fill out as the trees become established.

 

[Joseph Acquisto]

epsoma was recommended. Drill holes around drip line and pour in, then cover. I circled them with drip hose and mulched, last year, but may rip that out and put in drip line with emitters or laser holes as the recycled tire type seemed inconsistent for distributing water.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Hemlocks are not that picky and grow naturally in pretty poor soils. When you water, you should water long and deeply but infrequently. That is for a couple hours weekly rather than 10 minutes daily.