Beech hedge pruning

[Leoglogan]

Hello,
I planted 150 2ft high copper beech bare root plants last november(2008). Ultimatly I would like a hedge 7ft in height, do I prune sides only untill desired height or do I need to start pruning the height leaders earlier than the finished height required to encourage bushing out?
Thanks for your help,

[gardening_guru]

Hello,

I would keep both the width and the height of the hedge pruned to a regular uniformity in mid-late summer. As soon as I planted them, I would have cut the plants down to half their original size, this encourages bushy growth from day one.