“Hi Trevor,
The Hemlock Hedge was started from small seedlings dug up in the woods, enriched by some larger (5-6 foot) trees from a nursery. The seedlings caught up to the nursery stock in a few years. They are planted @ 3-4 feet apart and surround @ 5/8 of our acre size yard. In order to keep them thick and hedge-like I trim them twice a year: once in the dormant winter period, and once in mid summer. The dormant pruning forces the inner buds to form, break and grow; the summer time shearing removes the outer, sun-blocking layer and thus permits/encourages the inner foliage to better develop.

If left untrimmed the Hemlock quickly becomes rank and tree-like. Yes, the hedge can be kept narrow. It is important to shape the top inwards to allow light to strike the lower branches; otherwise it thins out and becomes ragged, ugly, and useless as a privacy barrier.

The other reason for frequent pruning is that it allows for better spraying to control the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, which is now endemic throughout the Northeast. These little cottony scale insects are responsible for massive destruction of Hemlock throughout the area. (more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemlock_woolly_adelgid )

I spray with Horticultural Oil in the dormant period, and with Horticultural Soap and/or Oil during the summer, using a garden hose-end sprayer. A few times I have had to follow-up with a stronger pesticide on small, heavily infested and resistant colonies, but the oil and soap seem to work well. The hedge has survived for over 20 years now.

Yes you can keep it shorter. We kept allowing ours to get taller and taller, reaching over 26’ in height, but then I realized that I couldn’t trim the tops adequately. We hired a tree care company to trim the tops, but they were spectacularly unsuccessful – from the ground it doesn’t look all that impossible, but once up on their scaffolding the employees froze stock still and refused to attempt to use their power tools. Soooo…. I just bought a taller ladder (28’ medium gauge aluminum, weighing 47 pounds and rated for 225 pounds – far in excess of my 147 pounds – at a cost of @ $200). Using a hand saw and pruners I was able to remove 4-8 feet and now have the hedge at @ 22 feet(chest high if I stand on the 17’ rung.)

For the foliage of the current year I use a series of battery operated hedge clippers. One held in my hands gets everything up to the 5-8’ line. Then I lash one to an 8” pole and get up to the 12-15’ line. A third, lashed to a longer pole gets the sides up to the 20’ level. The top is done with the ladder and hand pruners. It takes about three or four days, working two or three hours a day, to do the dormant pruning (I also do my neighbors’ sides) and one day to do the tender summer shearing.

Using a hose-end sprayer I can do the entire hedge in a few hours. The normal house water pressure can just reach the 22 ‘ height, but I also try to do a bit of the top from a ladder. The horizontal reach of the sprayer is well over 20 feet. A small back-pack sprayer can also be used.

There are other varieties of evergreens which will naturally form a very narrow hedge of @ 15’ in height. Your local extension service can probably recommend the ones best for your area.

The cost of the Oil and Soap for the entire year is under $100. A $70 hedge trimmer usually last @ 3 years. I usually get @ 40 minutes work per battery charge. I have used cord operated 110 amp pole trimmers, but they all crapped out within the first year. (One of the vibrating blades bends and doesn’t operate unless the unit is disassembled and the blade reversed, a fix that lasts for a few hours and than must be repeated.)

Realtors assure us that this hedge adds quite a bit of value to the property. It makes minimal impact on nearby road noise, but does a great job of screening out the visual chaos of the neighborhood. And it provides a beautiful backdrop and frame for the other plantings in the yard and around the house. Yes, it does take some work, but it tends to keep me in shape!

Hope this helps: Let us know how yours works out.

Bill”

“If the leaves have not wilted, then I feel pretty confident that the plant will survive the move. That the flowers on only one wilted is admittedly mystifying. Just like every one of us is reacts to conditions differently, I guess plants have that same right. Verticillium wilt can be a problem with this species, but it would affect the leaves as well as the flowers. Are these destined for an event? If so, you might look into replacing that plant for the display, but planting the wilted-flower one out where you can keep an eye on it. It might just be reacting to the transplant in a funny way, which is really my best guess.
Good luck!”

I can only echo his encouraging words. Although Viburnums are vulnerable to all manner of pests and diseases, they are also (by and large) very tough plants, able to survive many insults and still grow on to glory. We have an elderly V. carlesii that has been through several scary situations and is as I write in DESPERATE need of a major pruning. But it is also covered with bloom and perfuming the entire front yard in a very gratifying fashion.