New Build Hedge

Hello everyone,

I'm new here so hi to you all. Firstly I have to say that my green fingers are in their infancy!

I moved into a new build property about two years ago. In the garden they planted a box hedge (~30cm tall) but it's hardly grown at all. The ground is terrible, about a foot of poor clay/building rubbish and below this is thick clay. I don't know if they planted the hedge in decent soil but knowing the builders I'd say probably not!

Is there anything I can do to help it grow? Do you think it would help to dig it up and put some decent topsoil in and then replant it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated because it's the only boundary I've got and to date it hasn't really provided one.

Many thanks

Shaun

 

Welcome to GC I'm a beginner too so can help u but I wanted to say Hi

 

Hi Shaunster and welcome to the forum

Your box hedge will be slow growing throughout its life and so I wouldn't have expected much growth since your house was built. But by the sound of it, the builder did the common trick of covering up the last of his rubbish with a hasty bit of landscaping (I had the same problem in my last house and the current one). This doesn't give your hedge a fair chance and you're right to be thinking of ways of inproving things.

If the box plants are basically healthy and just very small, I see no reason why you can't lift them carefully, improve the planting site with soil conditioner, compost, leave mould or whatever you've got and then replant them. Box doesn't need a very rich soil but if it's as bad as you describe, any improvements will pay long term dividends. To put it another way, in five years time, you don't want to be looking at a scraggy little hedge that hasn't grown much and thinking "I wish I'd put some guts into that soil.....!"

You don't say where you live in the country and timing is an issue. Transplanting a shrub is best done while its dormant and the soil isn't frozen - so we're usually talking of late autumn or early spring.

 

Thanks for that.

Yes, I don't want to do more harm than good by digging them up but like you say I don't want to look back in years to come regretting it if it never grows. Maybe the gently gently approach is best. To be honest I was thinking of starting fresh with a faster growing hedge but if I can convince myself that with a little help it'll start establishing itself I'll stick with it.

I live close to the coast, just southwest of Bristol. It's quite a sheltered spot so not too bad in terms of frost generally. Just flippin' wet of late thats all!

 

"Do you think it would help to dig it up and put some decent topsoil in and then replant it?"

If you dig holes in your garden and find that the clay is 2" below the surface, or full of broken bricks etc., then yes - but wait until October as the plants will be less stressed then. Dig them up, prepare a decent trench in the original location 2 or 3 feet wide, and 9" - 12" deep, mix in some compost / manure / etc and good topsoil, and replant.

Or replant with something that will grow faster than Box. Don't use Lawson's Cupressus - the fact it grows 3' a year is not an advantage. Yes you will have a 6' hedge in two years, but after that you will be cutting it every month to keep it under control!

Privet is handy for 4' hedges. Thuja plicata atrivirons (looks similar to Cupresses, but more manageable and I think a nicer hedge when clipped) for 6' and up.

Yew is a good choice too. Its not desperately slow growing, and will be very smart when clipped. It tends to grow wide though - so start clipping the "wide" shoots from an early age to encourage a narrow final shape.

 

Box is unlikely to atain more than 4'. Personally id have it out and plant beach or hornbeam, diging a trench and preparing the ground as Kristen mentions.

If you do keep the box then remember it is a hungry feeder and will benefit from regular feeding.

 

"Privet is handy for 4' hedges"

I don't really want a monster of a hedge so 4' is plenty. I've seen plants advertised potted or bare root. The bare root option is certainly much cheaper but some nurseries say they are likely to defoliate when transplanted. Is there any risk to this or will the plants/leaves recover come the spring?

Thanks

Shaun

 

Bare rooted is fine if planted late Autumn or early Spring.

Anyone mad enough to HAVE to plant in the middle of the Summer needs to use more expensive container grown plants :D

Personally I would plant bare-rooted every time. They haven't been stuck in a pot all their life, with hit-and-miss watering, and will be much more robust plants. Properly managed plants will have had their roots pruned (if the plants are more than a couple of years old) so that they are ready for being transplanted.

I would still buy small / young, from preference, because they will get away more quickly than larger plants - but it depends whether you need an instant mature hedge. or can wait a year or four