Hedge

Hello all,

I want to put a hedge at the end of my garden but I'm not sure how to go about it (I appreciate it will take a long time to grow properly!) Ideally I'd like something which can grow to about 5-6ft but will be good for birds/insects. At the moment I have a small wall (about 3ft high) at the end of the garden but it doesn't provide much privacy - and people keep throwing rubbish into my garden! The hedge would be about 3-4 metres long and maybe half a metre thick. I don't know what kind of soil I have though - does anyone know where I can get a soil testing kit?

Any advice appreciated!

thanks

 

Long topic!
If you are not going to stay in house for long and want a quick fix - Leylandii - that will give someone else a real headache. (gold variety castelwellan can be kept in check).

I have lonicera hedge one green, one gold. I have a mixed hedge of holly conifers flowering currant. and have a prunus lucitanica (portuguese laurel) they all do their job in the situation.

You could also try escalonia - depending on aspect
berberis, but not evergreen. beech.

I sympathise with the rubbish I get the same in my field.

I think you can get soil test kits in B& Q

 

If not B+Q, garden centres do, as do most of the on-line places, like Two Wests, or Greenfingers.com. If you're after a hedge to attract wildlife, go for a mixed native species one, which could have all sorts of shrub that have flowers and berries, and flower at different times of the year. I googled mixed native hedging, and got this site - have a look and see what you think, http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/Index_Hedge_Collections_2.html Good luck!

 

please be warned though i have a privet hedge at the end of my garden,and it seems everyone that walks past shoves their rubbish in it,i was out looking the weekend and i swear i couldve gone 4 an exhibit,9 beers can loadsa crisp packets toaster box sweet wrappers oh and a condom wrapper nice lol and that was only the one hedge im leaving the other one 4 this week hehe

 

at least it wasn't the used condom!!

 

eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww lol maybe thats in the other half of the hedge hehe

 

Actually, the thorns in that sort of hedge I was talking about might discourage the litter - or it might just mean it was harde to remove it?? Dunno! :confused:

 

Berberis may do the trick then. good pricles, easy to keep in check and you could pick an evergreen one.

 

Holly is very off-puting to "courting couples"

 

Hedging.co.uk is very good for mail order - or at least I've found them so. I ordered some BERBERIS JULIANAE which is now waiting to go in - that's an evergreen, prickly as anything! they're only a foot high and already covered in spines! :D