Long hedge, no hedge trimmer. What should I do?

Hello,

I moved last year to a house that came with a very high maintenance garden that is slowly being changed,(and is the reason I joined this website). One of the problems there is a long hedge and we don't have a hedge trimmer.

The hedge is around 77m,(255') long and I'm pretty sure it's yew. I think the easiest option considering the length of the boundary is to buy a hedge trimmer and keep the hedge. Alternatively a wooden, or metal/wire fence could be put up but I think it will cause more work. I'm not looking forward to painting almost 80m of fence every few years. If we get a fence that can be seen through that's not a problem as that side of the garden looks onto a crop field.

My husband thinks we should remove the hedge and try to fan train some apple trees along the boundary. I think this would be a lot of work and my husband doesn't see the point in cleaning up any apples that fall on the ground. My parents have a apple tree in their garden so I know it can take close to a year for the fruit to fully rot and I don't want to have to deal with the mess, smell or insects this attracts. Plus I think fan training the trees will be more work that cutting the current hedge.

What do you think I should do with the hedge?

If relevant...
At the end of the garden is a 20m (66') area that the last owners planted conifers on with the long term plan of them joining up to make a hedge. It's going to take a few years before these join and they might be leylandii. We are trying to minimise the amount of work needed in the garden so they are being removed. I think if my husband really wants to have some fan trained apple trees they can go here near as it's next to the veg patch,( I won't have to smell the apples rotting when I sit in the conservatory). The field wraps around the plot of land here too.

In 2 weeks time we'll have a dog and next summer/autumn will have a baby that should be crawling.

 

We have about 75 mt of hedging here. Half privet and half Laurel.We use an electric trimmer for the privet and hand shears for the Laurel. It doesn't take that long really.
I like your idea of putting some fan trained apple trees near the veg patch.

 

I think a hedge trimmer is probably the way to go, but I'm hoping there are some members with long fences.

How long does it take for you to trim you hedge?

I like the idea of fan trained apple trees too and I've told my husband I think it was a brilliant idea. I think I need to convince him that 77m is a bit crazy and 20 is better.

 

I`d go for the apple trees too

 

77 meters is 80 steps ... keep the hedge

get a proper hedge trimmer such as a stihl petrol .... even the electric stihl is good (they sell for under £100 new)

or hire a gardener to trim your hedge twice or 3 times a year

 

For the privet, about an hour and a half. That's doing both sides and the top. (The hedge is on our land not on a boundary.) I just paced it out, the privet is about 3/4 of all the hedging, not half.

When you think about it, a fence will need treating/painting with something every so often. Can rot and get damaged in the wind.
A hedge will need trimming about two or three times a year, will look softer,be a wind break and support wildlife.
The only problem you may have is getting a cable long enough for an electric trimmer (our problem) so you may need a small petrol one.
To me the choice is a no- brainer.

 

Absolutely, hedgerows are a godsend in winter for wildlife.

 

Personally you could keep the hedging plus a couple of Apple trees aswell, short fencing at intervals. Take a while for the trees to mature though. Apple also is a valuable food for birds like Fieldfare and Redwing in the winter after the apples drop. You'd get them with fields at the back.
I wouldn't entertain conifers if you want a low maintenance garden. They offer little too wildlife wise.

 

I voted apples before I read the write-up. Now I'm kind of leaning towards keeping the hedge and paying someone to trim it, but I don't know how often it would need to be done.

The apples idea is still good, but I think if it was mine, I'd mix in other types of fruit tree too.

As for the waste apples that fall, surely they could be collected and stewed for gorgeous fruit pies and crumbles, or better, juiced and fermented for cider.

 

Sounds like you bought something that's going to be too much for you. Pretty large garden.
I'd hate to lose a hedge of that size.



If you cant cut it yourself, I think the best option is to call in a gardener.

As for worrying about fallen apples, its part of the gardening process, its not a problem.

 

If your hedge is giving you screening from wind then keep it, if you replace it with fencing high winds will probably damage it over time. It also gives shelter to any non-hardy plants.

Hedge trimmers are quite heavy and I find I have to take breaks when cutting my hedges. Clearing up takes longer than the trimming and you have to dispose of the cuttings as well.

 

Hedge trimmer cost £1-200
Getting new fencing professionally installed £1750

I have both hedge and fencing running the same length opposite each other. The fencing price I have given above was what we paid for the replacement of a knackered old brickwall which I consider a reasonable price. We had other quotes for the same job of over £2500. Our fencing was put onto gravel boards and sat on the brick wall's footings. If you remove your hedge and plant apple tree you will have to dig out all the trunks and rootballs to accomadate the new fencing and apple trees. I did this with a forsythia hedge yonks ago and they are a pain to remove.

A hedge is friendly to wildlife, a safe haven for birds to nest and other insects to hibinate over winter. It doesn't take much time to cut back every now and then. I'm lazy/messy and let a few of the cuttings stay where they lie

I've contemplated getting rid of my hedge many times but then remember that a garden with a hedge as a boundary gives the garden a much softer edge than a naff fence would.

 

I don't know whether this is still current, but a few years ago I read about a company which collected Yew clippings to use for research into a cancer treatment.
Did a quick search and found this link http://www.friendshipestates.co.uk/yew-collection/yew-collection.html

If your hedge is yew you may want to follow up.
best wishes

 

I just read over the posts and most people here are saying all the things I've been thinking. I think I need to convince my husband that 20m of fan tree's will give him more that enough apples. The thing that makes me laugh is when I buy apples it's very rare that he eats any and 9 times out of 10 I'm the one who ends up stewing them and freezing them for later. In all fairness though he probably does more cooking that me and he makes a very tasty danish desert using the stewed apples, cream and meringue.

It's not that bad. It sounds much worse that it is. It's a long plot of land and the drive,house ,garage, workshed thingy are staggered in a way that cuts out a big chunk in the middle. Plus the house is all on one level. The garden at the front and back should be nicely manageable once all the invasive plants are removed it's just the long hedge that is the potential problem.

That's really interesting. It's no good for me as I'm in denmark but my parents and their neighbour's all have yew hedge so they might be interested.

 

here's a decent stihl hedge trimmer for £75

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271018824983?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649