privacy hedge - help please?!

Hi Guys,

I am new on here, and in fact fairly new to gardening also!

We moved into our new house about 18 months ago and are now getting around to planning the garden for next summer. Unfortunately we have a north facing back garden so the sun is beautiful in the evening in the front garden! As our house is on an open plan estate we have no privacy in the front garden to sit and enjoy the sun, so i was hoping to remedy this in time for next summer.

My plan is to buy bare rooted hedging and plant them at staggered rows to form a fairly dense hedge between the street and the immediate neighbours. In the long term i would like it to grow to about 5-6 ft and I would need approximately 40m of hedging to do so. I have found a local centre that is offering hawthorn, beech or privet hedging at £110 for 100 plants at 3.5-4 ft height, which is brilliant! I plan to get these ordered soon for the first weekend in November.

Basically i just wondered if someone could please advise which of these hedges would suit my needs? which suffer the lowest fatality rate for bare roots? what is the best planting technique? do i need to put any fertiliser/compost? is it ok to go straight for such high hedges for an immediate effect? how many plants and what spacings should i need per metre for staggered rows?

I would imagine the soil quality is not great as it was a building site not long ago. When we had the lawn laid there were millions of stones, and i would imagine the soil would be fairly heavy or clay like. Is there any way to confirm this?

Any general advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

As it`s an open plan estate are you allowed to plant a hedge?

 

funny you should ask that, i did wonder whether it would be worth checking the deeds..... i guess i better!

 

If it`s a privately built estate you may have restrictions uner the covenance.

 

yes, we cant change our front garden at all so its worth checking your deeds!

 

i've just spoken to my friend who is a planning officer with the local council and he says even if there is a condition within the deeds it would be very hard to enforce. he said to consult my neighbours, and assuming they are happy to go with it, and that the huge isn't too high, i would most likely get away with it

 

Just don't plant Leylandii. You'll come to rue the day if you do and your neighbours will curse you!

 

dont worry, i dont intend to!

aside from the obvious planning issues, does anybody have any help with my questions?!

 

dont worry, i dont intend to!

aside from the obvious planning issues, does anybody please have any help with my hedging questions?!

 

"I have found a local centre that is offering hawthorn, beech or privet hedging at £110 for 100 plants at 3.5-4 ft height, which is brilliant!"

Have a look at Ashridge trees I have had plants from them and been well pleased with the quality.

£1.10 a plant for 100cm - 120cm @ 100 off strikes me as being in the "too cheap" bracket, and I would be a bit worried how long bare rooted had been out of the ground if buying from a garden centre (unless they are getting them in specially for you)

"I plan to get these ordered soon for the first weekend in November."

Perfect time IMHO :0

"Basically i just wondered if someone could please advise which of these hedges would suit my needs?"

Do you want a mixed hedge?

Green and Copper beech keep their leaves during the Winter, but are quite "skinny" (double row much better than single, but still fairly see-through)

I would choose Hornbeam instead of Beech on heavy / wet soil

I personally think that copper beech looks nice. Slower growing; if you can afford decent sized plants then you may feel that it will reach size soon enough, and then less clipping thereafter.

But for me I prefer a nice tightly clipped yew hedge

"which suffer the lowest fatality rate for bare roots?"

Dunno about others, but Ashridge will replace any failures :thumb:

Clearly better you have no failures though. I weave leaky-hose between the plants and give the young hedges a good soaking once a week (except in weeks with very heavy rain) during the Summer.

"what is the best planting technique?"

I think it is hard to plant them into individual holes - although that method has merit when planting small plants straight through weed suppressing membrane. I find an open trench and backfill around the plants easier.

"do i need to put any fertiliser/compost?"

I would mix compost / rotted manure into the soil. I scatter bonemeal at the base of the planting "hole" - roots shouldn't come into direct contact with it. You could consider Mycorrhizae root stimulant, but probably not worthwhile for hedge plants.

Fertilizing with high Nitrogen in the Spring and early Summer (next couple of years) will help get the hedge up to height in shortest time.

I also mulch with rotted manure each spring to keep in moisture, and cover with weed suppressing fabric - to save weeding and keep moisture in. Its a bit of a pain to fit around planted-plants (rather than planting through it)

"is it ok to go straight for such high hedges for an immediate effect?"

Do you mean to plant using 100cm-120cm plants? Yes, I think that's fine. Some varieties it is best to cut back the currently year's growth by 2/3rd to help the plant bush. Most hedges "stall" the first year after planting.

You could buy "instant hedge" from Practicality Brown for around £200 a metre if you are in a hurry!

"how many plants and what spacings should i need per metre for staggered rows?"

5 per metre, staggered, I reckon for Beech and the like.

Some pictures of my hedge planting efforts on My Blog if you are interested

 

Kancell, I would go with Privet. It`s semi evergreen, easy to maintain and has highly scented flowers. What more could you ask for.:gnthb: