copper beech hedge

Hi, I planted my copper beech hedge as bare root plants 4 years ago ( this will be the fourth summer). After planting I took a third off their height and have taken off the top new growth every year in july, but they wont thicken & fill in at the bottom foot or so. I have tried feeding them with Chempak No2. Do you think they just need more time?

 

Perhaps it's a light thing.
When you cut a hedge, it's better to cut it so the shape is in an 'A' shape when looked down from the end of it. This will stop the bottom from being shaded by the top growth.

 

Hi acerhead, normally when you plant a Beech hedge you plant a double row, that is, you plant one row of plants and then you plant a second row about a 10 cm away with these plants filling the space between the first lot. My advice would be not to cut them , it will take quite a while for them to fill out, so you can either be very, very patient or else put in a second row. David.

 

I am a bit puzzled by this. I don't think a beech hedge needs to be cut in an A shape or needs a double row. I put one in as a single row and it is well clothed from ground to top and is 7 foot high. What I like about it is it provides a good screen and I can cut it so that is no more than 1 foot thick. I never took out the top until it reached the required height.
How big were the plants when you put them in? Mine were certainly small when I planted them but they didn't half grow. Your plants are not being shaded by anything are they?

 

Hi Geoff, you say your plants "didn`t half grow " I assume you mean that they grew fast? If that is the case I don`t think you have Beech I think you have Hornbeam ( Carpinus )which looks very much like Beech but grows a lot faster and denser. David.

 

Hi, Geoff, the plants were about 2' high when planted & this is what the hedge looks like now. They are about 4' high now ( hope this link works) http://groups.msn.com/davysphotos/davysphotos.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1
David, what do you mean by very very patient?

 

Yes I do have beech. I can identify beech with my eyes shut and it does grow fast if its got the right conditions. Hornbeam is ugly by comparison.Copper beech does not grow quite as fast.
acerhead that does not look very good. I would not have spaced them out that far apart. Mine are 9 inches apart.I can see one that is bare at the base on yours but most would make a decent hedge if simply closer together. They don't seem to spread out that much which is why i like beech. As I have said you can cut them to make a very thin hedge that takes up very little room.
I planted mine where a fence fell down. The builders had raised the ground up and in order to support an earth retaining structure they had used concrete. When i investigated I found concrete 6 to 12 inches below the surface. It meant I could not easily replace the rotted posts and i reasoned that beech love lime and they have shallow roots. They have thrived and made the most beautiful hedge. If I had access to a digger I would replace all the leylandii with beech.
Basically i think you are going to need to do some thickening up with extra plants. Now you may have to take the tops of existing plants so they don't deprive the new ones of light. I think it is going to have to be that drastic. How much you may need to take off I think others may need to suggest.
Where you have lots of bare stem at the base I wonder whether you can try taking off a sliver of bark above where you want a shoot to grow. the sliver must not go all the way round the stem , just on one side. It works on the principle of disrupting the sap flow to initiate buds into growth lower down. I once used the technique successfully on a friend's espalier apple tree where a major branch had died and needed replacing. But the bud would need light to reach it.

 

Geoff, thanks for your reply. I think that even if I had planted them closer, there would still be bare patches at the bottom, because they arent really putting on any growth hardly at all. There is a hedge that I pass on my way to work, planted a year before mine, it really looks well, being dense right to the ground. Do you think it is my ground, I mentioned in my first post that i had been feeding it occasionally with chempak no2. You mentioned lime, would adding some lime help, also when would be the best time to add it. Is July the right time to take the top off, or should I do it earlier to promote new growth lower down?

 

In the photo I can only see two plants that are not doing what they should. The rest are Ok, they are just too far apart. If you are going to take the tops off them drastically then i would have thought winter, but that only needs to be done to two. I don't think you would get more on the rest. They are not wide spreading like leylandii.
Lime, well they will cope with acid soil quite well. I know they like lime cause naturally you get beech woods on chalk rock. They must have good drainage. If you are worried about growth what are the shoots like at the sides and top? If there are plenty of new shoots, like my hedge has and which need trimming them it won't need feeding.

 

There are about six more plants similar to these. I have included another 2 photos. Most of the new growth (which isn't an awful lot) is usually at the top and nothing at all at the bottom. Also a lot of the plants start off copper in spring but turn a greenish hue. web page