Planted a Salix Viminalis windbreak. Bad decision?

I'll start of by saying that I'm a beginner gardener and don't know much yet. But one of the things that is confusing me most is the whole 'trees that can be used as hedges' thing.

Last year I pushed some small Salix Viminalis cuttings into the ground along a 35ft fence to act as a fast growing windbreak. But I'm starting to think I should have chosen something that stays naturally small in size when left undisturbed, and that does not turn into a fast growing tree if left to its own devices.

So is this how it works? ...If I keep trimming them every year to keep them small, the roots will also stay relatively small? And if I let it them grow freely for too long they will basically turn into massive trees with huge roots systems that could damage my house? (closest area of fence is about 10 ft from the house).

I hope these aren't stupid questions but I find it all quite stressy because once a tree is in the ground and established, you cant exactly pull it up easily!

Should I have chosen something like Bushy Honeysuckle or Blackthorn instead?

Thanks

 

I'll start by suggesting NOT to plant blackthorn in your garden. It's a lovely tree and all. Your neighbours might be puzzled when it pops up in their lawn at random. They'll be even more puzzled when they go to pull out the 'sapling' only to discover it already has a well established root system with an inch thick runner leading from it directly to your tree.

The willows (salix), cutting them back doesn't inhibit the roots. Once rooted, if you cut the willows above ground, the stump that's left, no matter how small, will send up new shoots, which is good for a 'fedge', but the stump itself will also get wider over the years. I put some half inch thick sticks in about 14 years ago. I'm slowly in the process of removing trees with trunks a good 8 inches thick from my garden. I don't regret planting them, they did their job of screening off the ugly building next door while the rest of the garden established. But now they've got to come out while I'm still fit enough and strong enough to do it.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply and the warning about blackthorn. Having read your experience, I feel that I may just go and pull them all up. I will see if others chyme in before I do it, but you've pretty much confirmed my fears. I may just staple some of that green nettings stuff to the fence for shelter until I find the right kind of hedge plant.

 

Don't do anything too hasty. At the end of the day I'm just one randomer on public forum. My situation and circumstances and everything else are likely different to yours. And my experience with the willow hasn't been bad, quite the opposite, it served me well. It's just now it's got too mature and it's time to start taking it out, for me. I reckon if I'd been ten years younger I'd probably leave in there a bit longer. But I'm starting to think, I'm not getting any younger, the willows will grow bigger and stronger, and the longer I leave them the harder it will be to get them out.

 

I found any 'tree' they say can be used as a hedge/windbreak, means you plan to spend the rest of your days maintaining the thing!
The same can be said for a lot of shrubs. I'd work out the actual height you want, then choose something that doesn't exceed that.
As has been mentioned, these are just personal ideas and in no way are they meant to influence your decision.....just don't choose leylandii as an alternative!

 

Ok, well I definitely don't want anything I'm going to have to 'deal with' in the future, so I'm pretty much set on removing them. I've been reading all morning about suitable hedges using bushes and I think Escallonia ticks all the boxes for me. Thanks again

 

Noted! No Leylandii! I saw that in passing as I was looking at hedging options but knew it wasn't an option. I think Escallonia is probably the best option for my needs, considering I am in a very windy area near the sea with salty spray. From what I've read, their maximum height isn't too tall and they grow fast. I looked at Hebe but I'm not sure they will be tall enough. Thanks for your reply!

 

Escallonia rubra is a good choice @Daalamist. I walk past a well established hedge of it regularly and it looks good at all times of year. It's in a garden on a cliff overlooking the estuary and it's always windswept. However, I was recently reading about a new fungal disease affecting Escallonia so it might be worth checking this out with a local supplier or nursery:

Escallonia leaf spot / RHS Gardening

There are alternatives and it would be helpful to know your approximate location, your soil type and whether you want something evergreen to be able to suggest possibilities.

 

Oh gosh I didnt know about that disease. Maybe I might be safe from up here. I live in Shetland so the climate is much wetter and colder, so maybe that will keep the disease at bay. Maybe not. I will ask local people if they have issues with it.
I have no idea what my soil pH is but its seems to be quite heavy and peaty, but my garden is on a slight slope so I think it drains pretty well. The fence line is at the top of the slope.
I have no specific preference for how the hedge looks in terms of colour and flowering, I'm primarily using it for privacy and a wind break as the wind across my whole garden gets crazy, up to 50-60mph some days. I need to get that dealt with before I can start planting flowers etc. My priority for a hedge is fast growing, coastal, and bushy to stop the wind. Thanks!

 

I’ve done a bit of research on hedging suitable for Shetland @Daalamist and Escallonia is mentioned along with Cotoneaster. Escallonia grows well here and the hedge I mentioned gets frequent winds off the Irish Sea. If I were you l’d do some local research, speak to local plant suppliers, nurseries and neighbours. If @fairygirl sees this thread she may have some recommendations although her climate won’t be as severe as yours. Take your time before committing to the expense and effort to replace your hedge.

 

Shetland, wet, windy, peaty, coastal, puts some limitations on things. Maybe one of the hybrid rhododendrons or a type of fargesia, berberis or a cotoneaster like franchettii, or a viburnum maybe euonymus, taxus or a mixed planting of all of 'em!

 

I'd forget Escallonia. They often look rubbish here, let alone where you are @Daalamist. They're fine in 'normal' coastal locations, but they really won't be great where you are. We regularly get 40 mph winds, and they just get shredded, even when they aren't that exposed. Cold and wet is what they dislike, when it's long term. They get covered in black spot very easily.
Unfortunately, you'll really have to put in a physical shelter barrier of some kind to start with, regardless of what you plant, in order to give it a fighting chance. Posts with netting, or similar is the usual. I seem to remember George [Beechgrove] doing something like that for a viewer many years ago, when they used to do site visits to help new gardeners with problems.

Gorse is one of the best coastal hedges for severe sites, but you'll also have to accept it may not be pretty a lot of the time - it would simply be the first line of defence, which then allows you to put other planting, including another hedge, inside it.

 

OK well my options are getting slimmer and slimmer, lol. I will buy netting for the fence this weekend so that will be a start and I'll have a look in to Gorse and anything else that could work. I posted on local fb gardening page and someone mentioned that they had an escallonia hedge do well in an exposed site here, but someone else said theirs has that black spot disease. Maybe some varieties do better than others, I dunno. Perhaps I will have to just one one of a variety of different bushes and see what grows over the course of a year, and the ones that survive I will buy more of.

Thanks Fairygirl.

 

You may find that - one person will have success, while another won't. That's the risk, and it can be an expensive mistake if it's the latter! Small variations in the site can make a lot of difference too.
The most common one available is pink, and there are a few varieties of that, but the white one certainly isn't tough. Didn't make it through the first winter I had it here.
It's certainly worth asking a few people - ones who have a similar site to yours. The prep also makes a massive difference to the ability of any plant to thrive, regardless of location, so spending time on that is just as important as the right sort of plant.

 

The trick is, go for a little walk. Take note of what other people have in their gardens that's thriving, and that you like. Take a pic, get an ID, and go from there.

Plants are awesome. But I find that they can't read. So the RHS, or people on here might say a particular plant works or doesn't work in certain conditions, but local evidence trumps the written word when it comes to plant specifications.