Holly hedge - suitable to border a public footpath?

I'm proposing planting a holly hedge on the front of my property. I've been told by a professional gardener that I shouldn't be planting anything prickly in a hedge that borders a public footpath for risk of legal recourse.

I could understand if we were talking about pyracantha but most hollies aren't too aggressive.

The hedge will be well maintained and I won't allow it to encroach on the walkway.

Do you envisage any problems?

 

Not sure about the legal implications Sun'
The council planted a holly hedge on my fathers boundry to stop kids jumping on it so it must be OK . And it did the trick too:thumb:

 

Hiya Sunelectric, I was asked by the council to cut a holly hedge in a house of mine back to within it`s boundaries but said nothing about it being a problem in any other way.

 

There's plenty of gardens round me with Holly growing next to the path

 

"I've been told by a professional gardener that I shouldn't be planting anything prickly in a hedge that borders a public footpath for risk of legal recourse"

What a load of claptrap! Ignore him / employ someone more sensible.

 

No problem as long as it does not overhang the footpath.

 

Plant one up as the guys have said there shouldn't be any problem unless it gets a little unruly and rest assured you will not be plagued by hedge jumpers thats for sure!Hel.xxx.

 

Slightly off topic but I have a Holly hedge, which can scratch cars and puncture bicycles alongside our road, here is my advice;

I live in a very narrow(no footpath) private road and the three houses on the west side have a holly hedge, the two other houses elect to manicure theirs, I let mine grow wild, its quite spectacular, but I am not sure if I started again that Holly would be my hedging of choice. I prefer mixed hedging because it is more interesting and it attracts more varied wildlife. After moving in I planted many varied species in front of the Holly hedge for this very reason.

Security wise its only provides total security if you can get the Holly to grow at the hedge bottom, I have to use wire netting combined with interwoven tree branches to get total security.

Two things that have not been mentioned are that you need males and females to provide Berries and a Holly hedge without Berry's is not a real Holly Hedge, is it?

There is one commonly available self fertile Holly, JC VAN TOL but its practically spineless and a little less vigorous than our native Holly (ilex aquifolium).

Buckingham Nurseries, who I thoroughly recommend, advise planting 1male to 5 females (what fun) and they have a selected form of our native called Alaska (female (and Atlas (male). The common holly has been awarded the AGM by the RHS.

http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/

The other thing you really need to watch with holly is bicycle punctures, the holly leaf, long after its sell by date, will be an excellent puncture producing surprise for neighbours etc.. By the very nature of its leaf it will usually give you multiple punctures too! So itâ??s not just from the hedge trimming you need to watch for this but the natural process of it shedding old leaves.

Holly is a very accommodating plant, virtually bullet proof and will be happy in shade, but it is slow to establish, you can expect 18ft x 10ft in 20 years if left untrimmed.

A hedge is a long term planting so be very sure before you go ahead there as there are other prickly alternatives! As with all trees and shrubs pre-planning and proper soil preparation will always give the best results, attention to watering in the first two to three years also helps.

With a hedge I would always recommend keeping a few spares growing somewhere, even in some old pots, just in case you get some failures later on. With any plant that looks as if it is going to fail, get it out early, as the later you leave it the more you will have to disturb the roots of adjacent plants.

The best time to buy and plant is in the winter period so order bare rooted plants now and stand them in a bucket of water for at least 30 minutes before planting â??good luck.

 

"Security wise its only provides total security if you can get the Holly to grow at the hedge bottom"

Yup, that's definitely a problem.

For a security hedge worth considering Berberis (usually "darwinii"). But I agree with the Captain that a mixed hedge is more "natural"

 

Thanks everyone for the superb advice!

Where I live there a quite few young children. If I was to plant a berried holly hedge, should I be concerned about the adverse effects there might be if the berries were consumed?

 

Hi again,

Only if you are the one who has eaten them. LOL

 

I've got berried plants in my garden and my kids have never tried to eat them, the kids in the street have never tried to eat the berries either. The worst thing they try to do is pull them off the plant but being as they're pyracantha and berberis they only try it once!

 

Sun` everyone knows holly, so they know it is prickly. As long as you keep it inside your boundary I don`t see a problem. I look after a 50ft hedge of assorted Berberis and the client hasn`t had complaints from anyone about it, and he`s on a busy estate.

 

Thanks for the helpful replies!

 

Im new to the site but as already mentioned a holly hedge can be used at the front of your property without any problems. If you keep to the simple rule of makig sure your hedge dosent encroach over your boundary youll be fine. I have three clients who all have holly as hedges at the front of their properties and they havnt had a single complaint. :thumb: