Hedge Help

My hedge is in some major need for TLC. I have been in my place for 4 years now and only really started properly on the garden in the last two year. Apparently this hedge was never really given any attention by the previous owners of my house so needs some help.

So far i have cut out all the rogue trees that were growing in it and removed as much of the bramble as possible and quite a bit of ivy that was slowly creeping on to the lawn. I am currently left with this.



This is only half of the hedge because my photoshop just kept crashing on the photomerge today so this is all i could do.

There are lots of big gaps in it that i would like to fill so would appreciate any advice.

I do plan to clear the bottom next year and edge the lawn better so its really neat. Im not bothered about having a dead square neat hedge i like it to look more natural and messy.

I would like to fill the gaps though so would climbing plants be an option and what ones are best?

Also i would like to plant along the bottom of the hedge after i clear some of the grass. What plant would grow best at the bottom of a hedge and provide some nice ground cover?

My garden is southfacing and the hedge is on the west/left side of the garden. My soil tends to be sand/silt as well

With regards to the climbing plants will they need some added support to cover the gaps? If so I have a slightly crazy idea. I thought I could crochet some sort of trellis out of the polypropylene twine that was a bit like crochet granny squares or motifs attached together to fit the shape of the gap. I would then attach this to the hedge with soft jute twine so that the climber had something to climb up.

Would love some feed back to help point me in the right direction please. Im fully clueless about hedges

 

It looks like privet ?

Its a greedy hedge , what you have done already will help , growing anything into it will in the long run wont help as it will block the light out and if not evergreen you will have a baldy hedge in places over the winter months , hedge bottoms tend to be dry and lack plant nutrients so if me I would leave a good gap 1 meter at least this will help you in mainlining the hedge (clipping) also give any plants you decide to grow a ideal opportunity to thrive. I have seen many moons ago a smaller hedge grown in front as the same with you bare bottom hedge with gaps etc , it looked really good as this was kept to a about a meter in height and clipped very close and looked very architectural in design I think they had used a variety of berberis which was thorny had flowers and berries so solved all the problems of replacing the original hedge.

I would be careful with using "polypropylene twine that was a bit like crochet granny squares "just in case it may be dangerous to birds and mammals

Spruce

 

I have no idea what it is. i think its privet

I dont have room to leave a meter gap in front of the hedge and plant a smaller hedge so thats not an option



Not the best picture to see but there isn't much space between the hedge and what will be the lavender hedge next to the path. The strip of lawn is slim

Im guessing i have no chance of the hedge ever filling those gaps its self? They are very large my mums labrador can run straight through. Which is one reasons her dogs aren't allowed round ever again

I mainly only want coverage in the summer so me and next door arent looking at each other.

It being bare in patches in winter i don't mind

 

Hi Dips.if your hedge is privet you should be able to find some nice thick branches that you could bend down to fill in the gaps,and these should throw you some nice facing upward buds,If you want to trim it back what I would do is cut 1 side back hard now and then when fresh growth starts cut 2/3 times over the summer months to set out for a good thick hedge.Do this for 2 years then in the third year cut hard back the other side and you will end up with a nice thick hedge,I had this problem with mine when I came to live hear.Mine was 6ft tall and 5ft wide but if you could have seen it when I finished with it you would have thought that I had killed it.hope this is of some help to you.

 

Watch carol kleins life in a cottage garden (on youtube) I think episode 1 or 2 has hedge laying in it. We have privet and ours is so thick only birds can get through. We've had to cut it right back (was 6ft wide!) as well so looks like broom handles at the moment but will green up in spring.
Fileyboys advice is spot on IMO.

 

Thanx guys i have already cut it back loads as its was so thick and protruding so far into the garden but was only doing it a bit at a time

So should i cut it back quite hard now then, to reduce it growing deeper so that it grows wider and covers the gaps? Hope that makes sense

Not sure these is any thick branches that i can bend round but will have a check tomorrow.

Next door have planted a different hedge behind it on there side and that has in some places grown through to my side which has filled some of the gaps but its just all very bare inside.

 

You can partially cut through some of the branches to bend them down. Not sure if it's a bit late to cut it now?

 

Oh i thought to cut to shape it etc you do that in winter months during the dormant season

Maybe i have that totally wrong

 

You can usually do what you like to Privet at any time of year. Even if you cut it flush to the ground you'd still get it coming back

 

Thats very good to know zigs as i am naturally very heavy handed so may cut more than i want off but if it will cope then all good :-)

Plus i should of know that since my other neighbours cut the hedge down and put a fence up but didn't remove the stumps and it started growing back within a month or two

 

So was discussing my hedge with my mum and she suggested growing a climbing or rambling rose through it

Would that be a good or bad idea? Would they be suitable.

My main concern with that is the thorns so if there is a thornless or one with minimal thorns that would be good. Did notice they had a mninimal thorned climbing rose on great british garden revival

 

The problem with growing anything that flowers through a hedge, is the fact that you will not be able to prune the hedge without cutting the rose or any other plant at the same time. That in turn means you will lose any flowers or buds.

 

@Sheal that was always my impression

But loads of gardening programmes and mags keep saying not to worry about it and its fine etc

I want my garden to be a messy formal garden so its all layed out with symmetry and structure but o want all the borders to be soft and messy. So i want the same with the hedge

It did use to be all square before but i rounded the top off to make it look more natural and softer.

In a way i actually likes the holly tree and other trees growing in it because i liked it looking a mosh mash of different plants but i removed them because they were making the privet worse

Would a deciduous honeysuckle work as that can take vigorous pruning but should damage the hedge right?

To be honest if it grows how it did this summer i only cut it twice anyway. Barely grew at all only the odd shoot that i just snipped out

 

I renovated my hedge a few years back and don't regret it.

You have to make a choice between having a messy overgrown but soft hedge which will want constant maintenance or something more structured but requires less maintenance. To me a boundary hedge is just a boundary. Why complicate things by making it look pretty? Cutting it in the summer will be a nightmare IMO.

I cut a foot off mine both in width and height and the hedge quickly responded and thickened up.

 

I have already done that jungle jane and this year it really didnt grow for some reason. I cut it once after winter and then literally just snipped the odd shoot off all summer and then cut it again to reduce its size ready for the garden work to happen.

The hedge is prob the hardest thing to maintain for me anyway because i can only use the hedge cutter for 10 mins at a time so takes a while to cut and depending on health i cant keep it trim and perfect looking all the time so if im having a crash but the hedge needs cutting it just doesnt happen

Therefore something that is suppose to look messy and soft is ideal rather than just messy and unkept

I really dont like neat trimmed hedges i would rather one that looks like a country hedge and is filled with everything except bramble and ivy.

Is that weird?