Beech trees - refuse to grow

We planted some beech trees 3 years ago.
They were planted along the fence in front of our house, and when they were planted they were all the same size - ie slightly smaller than the one on the extreme left.
As can be seen in the photo, although for both the last 2 seasons they all budded and came in to leaf, they have all grown at a different rate, with those on the left hardly growing at all.


The smaller ones have now come in to bud (see photo below) but a lot later than the larger ones.

Can anyone suggest why they are growing at such varying rates, and what - if anything - it may be possible to do to correct the issue.

Thanks

 

Lots of things can influence growth.The main 1imo is what the saplings are growing in. Is the growing medium the same? Was the ground well dug prior to planting? as the ones which haven't grown well may be competing with builders rubble or little soil. Do the saplings all get the same amount of sun? is the wind a factor?. Certainly from the photo it looks as tho something is inhibiting growth getting worse from right to left. If I was you I'd dig up the poorest and investigate why there is little growth. If you are careful and lift them with as much of their roots in tack as possible then they could be replanted quickly after the ground has been checked to see if there is a problem. If you do a bit of digging up then be sure to water well after replanting and keep watering during the growing season. A good dose of compost/rotted manure around the whole lot wouldn't go a miss. I don't know where you live but I'd have expected considerablely better results after 3 years even up here in Scotland.

 

Thanks Silu.

The trees were planted where there used to be a 3ft high bank with Elm trees which died. I removed the bank to road level about 8 years ago and planted the trees about 3-4 years ago. The soil will have been the original soil which was under the bank (which had been there for at least 100 years).
I will however check it.
We did use a liquid 'tree/shrub' food regularly over the first 2 growth periods, but will add some manure/compost around the roots as you suggest.

The other factor you mentioned was wind.
The cottage is north facing looking across the Bristol Channel to Newport/Cardiff.
The wind is normally from the west and will cut across the trees from left to right.
I often wondered if that may be the cause of the problem, but tended to dismiss it as the trees are so small they offer no protection to their neighbours, and no other plants in the garden seem to be affected.

 

Was it subsoil?
Did you dump the top soil when you removed the bank and is it possible the trees on the right are growing in what remains of the top soil?

 

Hi Pete.

The banks was made up of soil (as opposed to clay or sand etc) and when I took the bank away I went down to about a foot below the road level and put the the soil from the top of the bank back as top soil.
When we planted the trees I also dug over the soil and added compost to it before planting.

 

Do you have heavy soil? Beech hate that (Hornbeam would be a better, but similar, plant for a hedge on clay)

My Beech come into leaf over quite a long period (2 weeks I would say). Some specific plants are always the first ... their neighbours are slower though, so its more genetic than where abouts they are in the hedge. I also have some that have grown WAY faster than the others, but yours look like they are struggling due to something upsetting them on the right left of the picture. I have a wetter-end to my Beech hedge, and the plants there are much less healthy looking than the other end.

Bit late now, but I think it would be better planted as a double-row rather than a single row.

 

Thanks Kristen.

I take your point and yes, we do have heavy soil. Although we also have a long hedge of Beech just behind the camera point which are well established and very old - but very healthy. In fact they grow too fast for us in the summer. These older ones were planted single row and are fine - that's why we planted the new ones as single row - but in hindsight as you say, double would probably have been better.

The main point I focused on were your comments regarding the wetter soil.
Just in front and to the left of the shorter trees we do get a 'pool' of water when we have heavy rain. At the moment in fact, the soil in that area is still wet after recent rain, but the soil is dry at the end of the tall tree.
I'm not sure what I can do about that, but will investigate possible alternative solutions.

I may also consider planting a row of Hornbeam behind the beech and see hot they take.

 

Its only that a double-row tends to be denser, particularly at the bottom, and during Winter.

But that may not matter - depends on "this and that" of course

A shallow "trench" (V-slit with a spade) that takes all standing water away might be enough. If you are extending an Existing Beech hedge you probably don't want a different looking leaf (which Hornbeam would be).

French Drain (trench with a foot of gravel in the bottom) would be a better way as it will "shift" more water. Even better would be to put some perforated drainage pipe (comes on a roll) in the bottom (which will spread the water along the trench so that it is not localised). And, even EVEN better , would be if that pipe had an outfall somewhere (if you just happen to have a ditch nearby ...)

I suspect your existing Beech hedge is happy because it is mature (or perhaps has no standing water nearby / is on a bit of a rise, for example)

 

Thanks for the suggestions Kristen.
I could run some perforated drainage pipe into a nearby ditch - so I'll try that and see how it goes.