Diagnosis guides
Every guide here starts from what the hedge is actually doing - browning, dying unevenly, overgrown, gappy at the base, or a neighbour dispute - and works through the real causes before landing on the fix. Written for Whitstable, Tankerton, Chestfield and Seasalter specifically, not generic hedge-blog advice.
Diagnosis · Coastal exposure
One-sided browning near the water is almost always salt, not disease. How to confirm it in under a minute, and the three fixes that actually work.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Dieback
Salt, shade, root compaction, root disease, or box tree caterpillar all produce a one-sided dying pattern. A working contractor's checklist to tell them apart.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Overgrowth
Two tests decide it: how much green growth is left at your target height, and whether the base is structurally sound. Here's how to run both.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Renovation
Usually the cutting shape itself, sometimes shading, occasionally disease. Three causes, three different fixes, and which one applies to yours.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Rules & paperwork
Your existing right to cut back to the boundary, when the formal High Hedges Act complaint actually applies, and why deciduous hedges are a different story entirely.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Storm damage
From cosmetic windburn to root failure: how to tell physical breakage from structural damage on an exposed Whitstable hedge, and what to do before the next storm arrives.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Pests & disease
Two different problems, two completely different fixes. White webbing means caterpillar; brown falling leaves with no webbing points to blight. Here's the two-minute check.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Yellowing foliage
Waterlogging, lime-induced chlorosis, nitrogen shortage and salt scorch all produce yellowing but need completely different fixes. Here's how to tell them apart from the pattern alone.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Laurel & evergreen dieback
Frost scorch, shot hole disease, drought stress and Phytophthora root rot all turn cherry laurel brown, but need completely different responses. Here's the two-minute check to tell them apart.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Conifer & leylandii dieback
With most conifers, the brown is permanent, so the diagnosis matters before any action. Cypress aphid, drought scorch, over-cutting and root rot all produce similar patches but need completely different responses.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Photinia & evergreen dieback
Leaf spot disease, fireblight, frost scorch and root rot all produce similar-looking brown patches on a Red Robin hedge but need completely different responses. Here's the two-minute check.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Privet dieback
Honey fungus needs immediate action; privet thrips can wait. Here's how to tell the four main causes apart before you dig anything out.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Beech & deciduous dieback
Woolly aphid, late frost damage, drought on free-draining soil and beech leaf disease all look similar at a glance. Here's how to tell them apart before taking the wrong action.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Trees & conservation areas
Which conservation area you are in, whether the tree counts under the 75mm test, and how to send the six-week notice to Canterbury City Council, step by step.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Holly & native hedging
Leaf blight, leaf miner, lime-induced chlorosis and drought stress all produce different-looking symptoms on holly, and each needs a completely different response. Here's how to tell them apart.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Yew & native hedging
Phytophthora root rot, dog urine damage, drought stress and over-cutting all produce browning on a Taxus baccata hedge but need completely different responses. Here's how to tell them apart.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · New hedge establishment
Frost heave, drought on Whitstable's free-draining soils, salt wind kill, rabbit damage and transplant shock all look similar at first glance but need completely different responses. Get the cause right before buying replacements.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Coastal hedging
Leaf spot fungal disease, frost scorch, drought stress and root rot all produce different-looking damage on escallonia, and each needs a different response. Here's how to tell them apart from the pattern alone.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Coastal hedging
Leaf spot fungal disease, Phytophthora root rot, frost scorch and drought stress all affect griselinia differently. Here's how to tell them apart before doing anything irreversible.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Coastal hedging
Trimmer scorch, waterlogging, frost and drought all produce similar-looking damage on an oleaster hedge. Here's how to tell them apart before doing anything irreversible.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Pyracantha & firethorn
Fireblight and scab look alike at a glance but need completely different responses. Here's how to tell them apart from each other, from cutting damage, and from drought, before doing anything that can't be undone.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Deciduous hedging
Leaf miner, frost scorch, honey fungus, aphids and waterlogging all produce similar-looking symptoms on hornbeam. Here's how to tell them apart and which one actually needs urgent action.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Hawthorn & native hedging
Fireblight and hawthorn leaf spot look similar but need completely different responses. Here's how to tell them apart from rust, drought and cut shock before doing anything irreversible.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Coastal hedging
Frost damage, Phytophthora root rot, pittosporum sucking louse and leaf spot all look similar but need completely different responses. Here's how to tell them apart before taking the wrong action.
Read the diagnosisDiagnosis · Coastal hedging
Viburnum beetle larvae create the lacy skeleton pattern; leaf curl aphid rolls the shoot tips; downy mildew coats the leaf undersides. Here's how to tell them apart before reaching for a treatment that won't work.
Read the diagnosis