What kind of hedges? It's too early to prune roses. If you prune forsythia now, you'll lose some of this year's bloom. It depends....K.

Same for lilacs... wouldn't want to prune those now either. If they're non-spring blooming bushes, then now should be an ideal time to prune most things.

What area are you in? This can make quite a difference.

Thanks for the replies. I'm in Zone 5b. As I mentioned it's a privet hedge so I'm not worried about early blooms.

I'm going to give it a go next week , while it before it's buds open . Keep your fingers crossed.

As far as I can tell you can easily prune your privet hedge now or could do it later in the season. Since it isn't a flowering hedge I don't think it really matters a lot, though I wouldn't do it in the fall. Found this website which has some interesting info on privets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Privet