By Poppylinda
leicestershire,
United Kingdom 
When is the best time to trim my Cotoneaster hedge? Its at least 20+ years old, the birds love to hide in it, the bee's love the insignificant flowers and the blackbirds eat the berries.its already had 1 cut early and a couple of light trims this year, which may explain why it is growing wildly.l have never known the "right" time to do it without losing the winter berries , which seems to be the case at the moment as l may have cut off most the flowers, help please.
30 Aug, 2014
Answers
Thanks Derek, it never seemed to grow so fast and be SO much trouble.....perhaps it's just me getting older!!
1 Sep, 2014
Hi Linda, I know the feeling well, the weeds and the grass seemto grow faster every year, and the privet, 1 minute there is nothing to trim, the next they're overgrown, Derek.
1 Sep, 2014
I'm laughing, thats SO true.☺
1 Sep, 2014
Hi, Cotoneaster trained as a hedge come into pruning group 13, prune them back to the fading flowers, or the nearest berry cluster in mid or late summer, you can trim them again lightly, in early autumn, if the new growth obscures the berries. but if you need to do any renovation pruning, they can withstand it, you just wont get flowers the following year, Derek.
31 Aug, 2014