Yard Repair: How to Fix a Hedge

When a landscape is first planted, everything looks nice and neat. New sod provides a lush carpet of green lawn, a little row of compact shrubs fresh out of their pots brings even more color to the yard. A fresh bed of thick, brown mulch ties the whole thing together. Now, fast-forward several years and what do you have... sometimes the grass starts growing into the hedge, the mulch dries out, and the shrubs start dying off if you get one too many drought-like seasons. This is the occasion when yard repair becomes vital if you want to spruce things back up again.

Let's take a look at one minor case of yard repair involving hedge realignment and sod replacement. You'll see how this inexpensive, quick, high-impact job can turn a run-down yard back into an eye-appealing spread.

Assess the Situation

What have you got? A simple case of grass growing into the hedge? Or is the problem a little more complicated... say you've got an issue where weeds are overrunning the hedge, the shrubs are dying or their growth is stunted by drought, and the surrounding grass is getting patchy?

In either situation, an investment of a little time and a few dollars (relatively speaking) will help get your yard back in order again.

Be sure you've got a plan in place... what do you want to do? Simply restore the yard or hedge back to its original condition or upgrade a bit with some creativity and a new design? Before you start your excavation work, you need to make sure you've got a clear plan as to what you want to do with your fresh canvas.

Whatever your plans entail, start buying the new material you'll need to get the yard repairs made. You should be sure to have a sturdy shovel, yard rake, hoe, and a good set of pruners ready to go.

One last thing! Be sure you call 811 to have somebody come out and check for underground utilities before you start digging.

Getting The Yard Repair Started

Now that you've got an idea as to what kind of task you're up against, it's time to get the shovel digging, the dirt flying, and the yard on its way back to pristine condition.

The first step is to remove the offending material: grass growing into the hedges, weeds, uneven or improperly graded dirt, and those dead or dying shrubs.

Quick Tip #1:Before dumping all that displaced dirt onto the rest of your yard, lay out some 2 or 3 mil plastic or tarp on your yard and place the dirt and debris on top of that - the plastic will keep the yard underneath nice and clean.

Now that you've gotten started on removing the old and decaying material and vegetation, it's time we start seeing what actually happened that caused part of your yard to fall into disrepair.

Was it a case of a bad insect invasion? Be sure any trace of the offending bugs are gone or else they'll probably come back and chew up your new sod and hedge.

If the problem was simply drought or a bit of oversight on maintenance, then you should go ahead with your plan and not worry about addressing any systemic problems like insects, ground pollution, or other headaches that will slow your yard repair progress down. A better watering schedule and lawn maintenance plan put into place after the yard repair job is done should avoid any future problems.

Quick Tip #2: Once the old material has been cleared away, dig up and till the soil at least down to six inches (if not deeper) to ensure that your new plants will have nice, soft soil to spread their roots into.

Now that the ground is cleared and the yard is prime for repair, it's time to get the landscape put back together again. If sod or grass replacement is any part of your yard repair project, start laying the sod or planting the grass plugs now.

If laying sod, be sure to the graded soil bed is about an inch below the grade of all surrounding grass, or else the thickness of the new sod's soil will stick the grass - and the new dirt - up higher than the surrounding yard. Not only is this a tripping hazard, it's likely to cause the replaced part of the yard to permanently lay out of grade with the rest of the yard. That's both unsightly and liable to cause the outer areas of the replaced grass to be cut too short when mowing the lawn.

It's your option to lay some fertilizer on the grass, onto the soil, or into the holes for any grass plugs.

With the grass now laid and a new grass line laid out for the edge alignment of the hedge, it's time to get the shrubs into the ground and the hedge restored.

Quick Tip #3: Lay a thick plastic or fabric liner on top of the hedge's bed to keep out weeds. The liner should prevent the growth of any unwanted growth from popping its head into the mulch and the surrounding hedge area. This liner should do its job for as long as it doesn't degrade.

If you laid a liner down on top of your hedge, start cutting holes into the liner to plant your shrubs. In general, you want the hole for your shrubs to be two to three times wider than the root ball, but not any deeper than the root ball. In fact, it's usually advisable for the top part of the root ball to be sitting at or just above the level of the hedge bed.

When planting your shrubs, be sure to rough up the roots of any plants which appear pot-bound; you'll easily notice a pot-bound plant. Pot-bound plants' roots are visibly wrapped all around the root ball and look like they're just itching to spread outside the confines of the pot. Don't tear all the roots apart, but do try to loosen some of these pot-bound roots. Doing that will help encourage the plants to start spreading their roots through the soil they're about to be planted into.

It's your option to spread a bit of plant growth agent into the hole as you plant your shrubs.

Laying the Mulch and Wrapping Up Your Yard Repair

With the sod down, the shrubs planted, and the key components of your yard repair in place, it's time for the final part of this yard repair task: mulching the hedge.

Lay the mulch down onto the hedge soil (or liner) so it's at least 3" to 4" deep. However, keep the mulch back from the base of your plant, which will help prevent problems like root rot.

The yard should look like its basically back to itself. But now comes the important part: maintenance. Whatever brought your yard to its knees before should be avoided this time.

Mow your grass regularly, and take the extra time to pick or remove the weeds out of the hedge before the weeds have really taken root and sprouted up into a mess.

Prune your shrubs as needed. Pruning helps to encourage new, denser growth. If you see any dead branches or twigs, remove them.

Water your grass and shrubs as necessary, but don't overwater. Overwatering plants is as bad and harmful as not watering often enough!

Enjoy your newly repaired and healthy yard!

Resource

Personal knowledge and first-hand experience