Advice please old native hedge and mature Ivy

Sorry long post . I have a long stretch of "native" hedge which is mainly hawthorn with privet, ash and a few hollies which I have planted in it. It's an old field boundary and runs down our garden between us and next doors old lane or loke in Norfolk. I've lived in the house for 20 years and apart from pruning it to keep it tidy I never gave it a second thought.

The hedge belongs to me but last year my neighbours cut it back hard to try and help the hedge thicken up. Most of it has buds but a couple of sections died and had to be replanted which I have done with beech, hawthorn, black thorn and holly. After cutting it hard they drew my attention to the amount of mature ivy which is growing in the hedge and said it could make the hedge collapse over time as some of the hawthorns are deceased.

In the back garden the hedge is "smothered" by mature ivy on our garden side. The ivy has stems as thick as a wrist and thinner branches are woven through and on the surface of the hedge like a woven blanket. The ivy flowers every year and is healthy. It screens a 50ft section of back garden. I can't see any signs of hawthorn spikes sticking through. "Their" side still has hawthorn and privit visible and I have stripped the thinner ivy out of this side to let some daylight through.

Q1 - should I leave the mature ivy on our side and take it all out possibly exposing dead hawthorn?

Q2 The hedge is a few hundred years old and is maintained every year. Is it likely to topple over?

In the front garden patches of living hawthorn were visible so I have taken the ivy out of these parts and started to remove dead leaves and litter. This has opened up holes in the base and middle of the hedge on our side. The other side is heavily branched hawthorn. I have bought some black thorn, beech, alder and hawthorn whips and larger plants to plant in the gaps. I have left ivy along most of the bottom third as I simply don't have the funds to replant all of the holes.

Q3. Should I continue to take the ivy out as it's not "woven" through and on this part of the hedge?

Q4 Will cutting old stems of hawthorn back allow lower branches and will the hedge thicken up if i cut the thin branches in the middle of the hedge

Huge apologies for the long post. I really need some advice as I feel like I am chasing my tail. The entire hedge is around 200ft long.

 

Hello rebecca, welcome to GC If you want a healthy hedge in the long term, I think that you're going to have to tackle the ivy. (Cue howls of outrage from environmentalists ). It's very unlikely that you'll kill it off completely but it's a sure thing that the ivy will slowly kill off all the hedge unless it's controlled. You're doing the right thing clearing the base of the hedge plants. You can check whether dead-looking specimens really are dead by scratching the bark with a fingernail. If there are signs of green life, then they'll rejuvenate once they're freed of the ivy's grip and perhaps given a bit of balanced fertiliser. It's going to look a bit of a mess initially, but those hedging plants are all tough cookies that should soon thicken up once the competition is removed. (This bit is just between you and me.. If you want to get rid of the ivy permanently, paint the young re-growth with brushwood killer or a full-strength solution of glyphosate). Other advice is available and should be arriving any minute now

 

Thank you Noisette47. Very relevant advice. I feel like I have a split personality over the hedge at the moment . I'm tackling the front and have a final section to replant this spring and then I've decided to sit back and look for signs of hawthorn life to appear. Where I see those lovely lethal spikes, which I spend most of last night, pulling out of my fingers I will thin the ivy. If the section is deceased on our side it will have to remain as ivy as the hedge is 7 foot high and keeps my neighbours dog out and soon hopefully my bantams in. My husband would like to replace it with a fence but I'm very happy it's protected in our deeds

 

It sounds like an excellent old hedge. Hedges like this are very valuable for wildlife. Old festooning ivy is particularly good. The berries in February, when food is limited, are an excellent food source for thrushes especially and the dense leaves home to many invertebrate species which in turn attract many more birds. I would keep as much ivy as you can.

Is it possible to post some pictures? So many questions, it would be helpful to see what it really looks like.

 

Back hedge my side covered in ivy

 

Longer stretch of back garden hedge on our side

 

Section down neighbours drive which doesnt have much ivy

 

Section from ourside in front garden. Part cleared.

 

I agree that the hedge will not collapse; it is not tall. I think what your neighbour may be thinking is sometimes when ivy takes hold of a mature tall tree after many years it COULD strangle it, causing eventual collapse. I do not think this will happen in a hedge that is regularly pruned and the height of yours as new shoots are continually produced, even from low down, in the case of hawthorn, privet, holly and blackthorn.

If parts are truely dead you have done the right thing in planting young hedging in the gaps but you may find that they are not really dead and will shoot from the bases. You could also lay some of the living hedge (look up hedge laying) but it should be done in winter. It's almost too late for this year.

You could take out some of the ivy if it really is annoying your neighbour but I wouldn't bother. It is a fantastic hedge! More people should plant mixed hedges like this. We have hedges like this too and have adapted a regime of pruning one side only and/or top in any given year. This means there will always be dense places for birds and insects to feed and hide and roost and berries. Hedges should be pruned and cut only between September and the end of February. Leave it as long as you can in the winter because that is when the food is there. Sometimes that isn't possible due to the weather but you can only do your best. That's why we only do one side each year.

 

Thanks everyone. I think most of the ivy will be staying put but I have chosen to fill a few of the gaps with wildlife friendly native hedging such as holly and sloe.

 

Rebecca, I manage hundreds of feet of very old hedges, and they usually look a bit 'skinny' at this time of year. Ivy is very very welcome in my native hedgerows, as it provides food and shelter for so many birds, as well as bees, and all sorts of other creatures.
If I were you I would just leave well alone. Your hedges look brilliant (especially the bits with more ivy)

 

I like the members of this forum . I will do as suggested and leave alot of ivy in the hedge but uncover the live hawthorn a bit.

 

My own very long garden is bordered by two 200' long x 5' wide and 7' high hedges . I planted them around thirty years ago . Numerous native plus exotic species included , and four full sized mature Birch trees .
I allow the ivy to have a free-run within reason . An excellent wildlife plant providing a valuable source of nectar during late summer ,giving good shelter and nesting sites for the birds too .
It seems that almost every year , some 'new' species of herbaceous plant appears in the hedges ; don't know what we'll find next .As the hedges have matured they are also an excellent windbreak , seemingly impervious to the most ferocious storms .

Incidentally , agree with the other members , you have an extremely good hedge there .

 

It might be the only good thing in my garden soon as the bantams are moving in...