Planted a Salix Viminalis windbreak. Bad decision?

There are a few lovely gardens around me with some really interesting trees so I may do as you suggest. I do have one of those plant ID apps on my phone too, so I might actually do that today.

 

Ok cool, pink gorse an option. I have been checking out Rosa Steppanova's book Gale Force Gardening and have got down some really good potentials! Including Dog Rose (awaiting reason why it's not suitable, lol!).
I have got the netting windbreak stuff in my amazon basket so that will be my first prep step! Also!...I live beside a beach that always has tonnes of washed up seaweed. Could I use that as mulch to put around the base of my newly planted shrubs to help them grow and stop weeds popping up? I've read that's a thing

Cheers Fairy

 

Just bear in mind that those apps are often very very wrong!
When looking at other gardens, just be aware that it isn't always that simple- the way a plot has been tended and improved makes a big difference.
Prep is as important than anything else - more important in many cases. Planting into a barren site isn't the same as planting into one that's had years of cultivation. If your site has had little or no cultivation, that makes a huge difference
Sorry - I just saw your previous post. Yes - seaweed can be very useful but make sure to wash it thoroughly. You also have to ensure it's ok to take it - there are varying rules and regs about removing large amounts, and often have to ask the landowner for permission. Dog rose might do well.

 

Yeah I do find the app gives several results and I never know which one it is.

My garden hasn't never been tended to, its just been grass for decades. Previous owners obviously has zero interest in planting anything.
OK Ill check if I'm allowed to take the seaweed, cheers

 

If you can add photos as you go along, that always helps too, and if you have a pic of anything in your local area, you can post it here on the forum for an ID. That's often better than any app.

I'm always a bit wary of taking photos of plants in other people's gardens, so just take care

 

Great, I will definitely use these forums as a major resource for help with IDing. Not sure why I didnt find this site sooner.
I'm definitely wary of pointing my phone at peoples gardens or houses for any reason. For sure some people are highly suspicious, but mostly, up here at least, people like to talk about their gardens. So it would likely be wiser to knock and ask about what's in someone garden that take pictures without permission. I think that's probably universal.

 

I think that's ideal if you can do it @Daalamist, re the asking etc . Many people round here don't garden much, or they're in the very large houses where they 'have a man' to do it

 

My cousin in the Western Isles has a hebe hedge in her garden a a windbreak - it’s about 4-5 feet tall, has been there for a few years and is looking good. I don’t have a lot of experience of hebe and which one it is, but there’s a lot of it about that height round the island. It’s a good idea of yours to ask people about the plants in their gardens.

 

Oh my dad lives in Lewis in Bayble, not far from Stornoway. I haven't been there in a while but the climate is very similar, very windy and exposed in the northern part. So I am going to have a read about Hebe. Thanks for the tip!

 

There are hundreds of Hebes, so it would be important to pick the right ones.
I can lose them here because winters are too wet and cold, and a lot of them just can't cope with that . This is why the site and the prep are so important.
Variegated ones are generally less tough too

 

Ok thank you! P.s (do you have a Hawthorn tree in your garden Fairy Girl?, lol. Just curious

 

Sorry - I was sound asleep when you posted that last comment @Daalamist
I get them self seeding and have a couple that I'm growing on, although they may just get put into the hedging. A bit has self seeded into the very back edge of my boundary, but I'll need to keep that well trimmed back as it could easily impede access.
There's loads of hawthorn round here as we're on the fringes of farmland. That would make a decent windbreak for you too, even without being evergreen because the sturdy structure helps filter wind really well.

I'm not sure many folk actively grow any of the cultivated varieties though - cherry, rowan, birch etc are definitely more popular as garden trees.

 

Awesome. I was considering using them for my hedging but thought it would be wiser to use plants that don't get too tall if not pruned because my property is actually rented and have to consider any potential future tenants that are not into gardening. I do intend to live here a long time, if not my whole life, but I think having a 15 meter long hedge of potentially massive trees could be an issue if I was to move out.
I am however thinking of planting one or two rowan or hawthorn trees in the large open area of the garden and letting them grow freely.
Maybe I'm being overly cautious? Even four or five Hawthorns dotted throughout for windbreak at the windiest parts might be ok. Hmmm, decisions decisions.

 

Hawthorn is a good windbreak, and it'll take a while for it to become very large and unmanageable, so I think it could be a good solution because you can leave one or two to get larger, while keeping the rest as a standard sort of hedge. It will naturally be affected by the wind anyway.
15 metres isn't too long though, so at least it shouldn't be too expensive, but unfortunately - bare root season is over, so you may have to buy potted plants if you want to get started soon, and that's always more expensive too. Plant densely and do a double row too, so that you have a good chance of getting a decent success rate. It'll still take a good few years to get a decent windbreak.

If you put trees in, of any kind, just make sure to stake them really, really well, and don't expect them to get to the height they would normally get. The wind prevents that, unless it's a more sheltered site to start with.
The big problem is the price of delivery - even anywhere in the Highlands is really expensive, and many won't deliver beyond the mainland either, so it might be worth seeing if there are outlets at all in the neighbourhood, or even farm outlets which might have stock of hawthorn. I don't know if that's feasible.

 

Ok thanks Fairy. Just before reading your message I placed an order for a variety of hedge plants (plug, not bare roots) on ebay from 2 very reasonably priced ( I think ) shops which appears to post UK wide free of charge, even up here. I will probably get an emails shortly telling me they can't post here, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. After reading your message about hawthorns I went back and ordered some of their hawthorns which I had taken out of my basket, lol! Definitely not as cheap as buying bare roots like you said, but still very reasonable. 10 hawthorns for £20. Cheapest option I could find outside of bare roots. Windbreak has been ordered too.
I'm actually really nervous now! Not sure I'll have enough for a double row but I can always stagger slightly, maybe propagate and add another row in front from the cuttings in future. If that's even how it works. Such a noob.

On your advice about staking, I will order something to keep the trees in their place, perhaps one of those tiny metal fence tubes things with a stick inside.

Thanks so much!