I was initially very enthusiastic about Eucalyptus as hedging, and some varieties can create dense screening to ground level; e.g. Subcrenulata.
My first go at creating a Eucalyptus hedge was in the town garden of my house in Edinburgh
It worked reasonably well. I trimmed it several times a year.
I was keen to try and promote thick growth lower down, and decided the next time, I’d effectively stool them, cutting back to about 20cm from the ground.
It did work. Perhaps I was just unlucky with a late strong cold wind that burnt off some of the fresh new growth.
Around half a dozen of the trees didn’t make it. Only prune during the warm summer months when the trees will have a chance to recover.
What surprised me when I cut it back was the thickness of the bark !
Several of the popular Eucalyptus take well to pruning, provided:
- It is done during the warm growing season
- They are not stooled
NOTE I am in Ireland, you may have a different experience depending on your climate.
Overall, other than dwarf varieties such as Moorei Nana, Eucalyptus want to grow ! So I’m now letting all of mine planted for hedging do just that.
I’ll cut every third or fourth tree back to around a metre during alternate summers. Part of my Eucalyptus strategy has always been as a firewood crop, and I’ll be glad of the additional fuel.