New privet hedge?

Hi all,

In our front garden, we have a border of about 10m, and I want to remove all the old dead hedges and horrible bushes, and replace them with a privet hedge. All this with a view to having a nice uniform (well-trimmed) 1.5m screen around our front garden.

I have today been looking online at green privet hedges, and the Oval Leaf Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) in particular.

They are still selling these bare rooted at some places, and they are much cheaper. Is it still ok to plant these, even though it's April? Or would you only recommend the potted ones?

Should I buy 90cm ones now, or is there any advantage of buying smaller ones (obviously there's a price difference!).

Also, is there any particular place I should look at buying these / not buying these from? I am totally new to gardening, so any advice would be fantastic!

Thank you!

 

Hi
Privet hedges do look realy good if kept well trimed and have tottaly gone out of fashion , but they do what they say on the tin . they aslo do come in other colours yellow silver & green somthing to think about
I would do all the ground work first before planting ie removing old hedge double digging as this will pay off in the long term .

So what you could do is get the small ones and cheeper ££ and pot them up yourself as bare root unless they have been kept refriderated I would stay clear from , its better to get smaller plants as the large ones will be bare at the base and next year you would have to cut them hard back to produce side shoots
Hope this helps

So get shifting get them ordered and get the pots and the compost ready


Spruce

 

Thanks for your reply - very helpful.

We have been overwhelmed with work, so haven't got around to digging out the old borders yet, so I think the bare root idea is out of the question now, especially with all this warm weather!

So it looks like we'll have to buy potted hedges now. What would they need to be put in (in the ground I mean) - is there a specific type of compost or something I should buy to help them establish well?

Sorry - complete newbie at all this! I had to ask my mum what 'double digging' was, but I understand that OK now :yess:

 

Hi

Dig out a 18 inch width trench and a good 12 inches deep use a spade to do this then when you have dug this out use a fork to brake up the bottom soil , if you can get well composted horse muck put this in the botom use the fork again and just slightly mix with the soil
Then once you have done all this return all the soil and mix some bone meal in and some more horse muck , then you will be ready to plant out

Hope this helps , I know it sounds a lot of hard work but the hedge will be their for years so all your hard work will pay off in the long term

Spruce

 

Just a quick update on this...

We have today dug out (or rather, pulled out with the car!) all the trees and bushes from the existing border, and ordered some bare root privet hedges (50) for our 10m length of border. We have dug a trench about 12-16 inches deep in the border (can't go much deeper because there's all rocks in it and it's back-breaking when you hit one with the spade!) Will that depth be enough?

The 40-60cm high bare root hedges are currently in a shaded area of the back garden, roots covered with existing soil, well watered and at a 45 degree angle.

The exisiting soil in the front garden is horrible - full of root balls and stones, etc. I have found someone local who can supply me with some well-rotted horse manure, so that's good. But I have three further questions:

1. Would it be an idea to put weed killer or something all over this area to kill of any existing roots/weeds?

2. Is it worthwhile putting down some weed membrane and then putting a hole in for each hedge?

2. Should I buy fresh compost from Wickes to mix with the horse manure and bonemeal, or do I need something else instead?

Thanks!

 

I was wondering how you were getting on , all going to plan well nearly ..... and yes deep enough

Anything else you can add to the soil the better ie Wicks you could use that when planting in the privet, yes you could put a weed membrane down as long as the soils is already to plant into them a mulch on the top of that the manure would work a treat .
Dont use weedkiller as if you have done it properley wasting your £££ plus the privet plants wont like it either and you may kill them as well as any weeds
Make sure the manure is old and well rotted as if its not it will burn the roots (kill them)
Its getting very late to put barerooted privet in now , but since you have ordered them you will have to keep them watered all summer as they will dry out very quickly and you will start to lose some .

Dont even trust if it rains check around them at least 1 a week and if in doubt water !!!!

Back to you and get them planted now !!!

Spruce

 

Thanks Spruce

So just to clarify (don't want to do this wrong; I'm a complete novice, so apologies for being a pain!) am I right in thinking I need to do this:

1. Break up the sandy/rocky soil at the bottom of the 12 inch deep trench with a fork.
2. Buy some Wickes compost, and mix some of it with horse manure and line the bottom of the trench in that.
3. Mix the remainder of the compost with bonemeal and loosely fill the trench, leaving a few inches depth to spare.
4. Put the weed membrane on top of that, making a cross (X) cut in it every 25cm for each privet.
5. Put each of the privets (and their roots!) carefully through each X, and heel in.
6. Fill the remainder of the trench with mostly manure, with mulch on top, making sure I don't go above the 'tide line' currently on each privet (where it was planted in the field).
7. Keep WELL watered all summer :D

Is that right?

I haven't quite finished digging out the trench yet (will do that Friday), and once that's done, Monday looks like the day we'll plant them in.

Ged

 

Hi before we start what have you done with the soil out of the trench ??

Spruce

 

Ummmm most of it is in the skip. Honestly, it was full of old weeds and roots and stones. But if we really need soil, I can get some from the remainder of the front garden, as we will be digging it up and gravelling to make way for my car later this year.

The trench isn't finished yet anyway, so I can save any of the soil that's any good if I need to. Just not sure what to do with all the old roots and stuff

 

I wouldn't do the weed membrane like that, I think you will struggle to adequately plant through a X-slit (well, I've never managed it on a hedge despite what the books say :( Have a go, but don't peg the whole thing down until you've tried planting a few. Depends how big the root system is to an extent

My approach is to unroll a bit (2 - 4M say) alongside the area to be planted, make the X-slit, feed the plant though, hold the membrane vertical (so the plant is horizontal so to speak). Then make a planting hole - this is at the point where the slit in the weed membrane will be once it is laid flat. Then plant the plant - adding some bone meal in the planting hole, and some compost if you like, and spreading out its roots, and firm it in. The weed membrane is still vertical at this point. Flatten it along to the next X-slit and perform the same juggling act with the next plant.

The problem, I find, with planting through the membrane, once it is pegged down, is that you can't easily help the plant into the hole - spreading the roots and incorporating compost etc.

For small, skinny, hedging plants I have also put the membrane on afterwards. Cut a slit, put one hand through it, encircle the plant and withdraw your hand so the plant is threaded through the membrane. Its easier for deciduous plants in Winter when they don't have any leaves.

I too would be concerned about the fact that they are bare rooted. They need to be in promptly, and I recommend leaky hose (under the weed membrane) to water them so that you can give them a good soak once a week, or possibly twice if we get a really dry summer.

 

Hi Ged

Dont want to be orrid but Iam origianly from the North of England and a spade is a spade !!
Do your self a favour and pot the privets up individualy for now , as you will waste your £££ as the poor plants will die. pop down the local garden centre most have a bin out side and you can help yourself to free pots ,
Dont want to sound tuff but its nearly May the weather is realy warm and the preperation of the trench is not ready and you have bare rooted privet (not potted ones that would take moving into a new home easily .

Go back and do the trench properley , we both knew it would be hard work , yes you will need to put some new soil in and do what I have all ready told you.

Head gardener
Spruce

 

Yeah, you're right Spruce. Potting them up would be better. The pots could be sunk in the planting trench once its done, so it will look a bit like a hedge!, and planted in the Autumn.

You could make plant when the trench is done, but the roots won't have formed much in the pots, and all the compost will fall off, I think it would be better to let the roots establish and plant in September or October - but whilst in pots they will need more attention to watering, probably every day during dry weather, although they'll only need a splash (1 - 2 mug-fulls per plant), rather than a good soak.

Dunno what other's think about the best time to plant them out once the trench is done?

 

Hi Kristen
Thank you for this
I tottaly agree leave in the pots until September then I would put them in as they will probably start to root out with the soil still warm and a lot wetter

Ged I honestly dont want to sound orrid but its the best advice I can give , and you will agree if you go ahead and plant out over the weekend

Spruce your gardening mate ........

 

Hi, and thanks to you both for helping me - I really appreciate it! :D

I'm from up north too, Spruce, and I'd rather listen to people who know what they're talking about, so please don't hold back - I'm on this forum for honest advice from people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience (unlike me), and appreciate your help!

Having read your comments, I will definitely pot them up. Seeing as though I've almost finished digging the trench out already (and having 2 young children), it seems mad to leave it like that until September, so I will prepare the trench a little more (pick axe may help get a bit deeper) and pot the privets up as you suggested.

I'll then sink the pots into the trench like Kristen says, so at least it looks like we have some hedge there (even though the privets are tiny weeny things at the mo)! That will also prevent the kids falling into the open trench.

Will get the Wickes compost that's on offer and 50 pots ready My mum's coming up on Easter Sunday to give me a hand.

Thanks very much again for your help - if you have any other info or advice that would be useful, please feel free to say!

 

Dunno how big the roots are, but I reckon they will need 2L pots, maybe 3L? and will need potting on during the Summer to 1L larger (once the roots have filled the pot)