What sort of hedge do you want? What sort of hedge does your neighbour
have? What plants do well on your type of soil? Let me give you some
ideas.
I’ll make it simple because your hedge can either
be evergreen or deciduous.
Evergreen can either be conifers or shrubs. Leylandiis
grow fast and clip well, while green holly makes a lovely hedge, but
is slow growing. From a gardening point of view a green background shows
up the colour of your flower beds. Laurels, grisselinias and escallonias
are also evergreen. These last two having the ability to stand up to
salt air.
Of all the deciduous hedging plants, green beech is the
most popular. It hangs on to its dead leaf all Winter, avoiding that
bare look. It can also be planted bareroot during the Winter months,
making it cheaper than potted plants.
If your garden backs onto a field, then try the trouble
free hedging rose, rosa rugosa. It makes a thick, prickly hedge with
flowers, then hips. Alternatively try a Farmer’s hedge of forestry
plants. Thorns, hazel, beech, elder, rowan, dog rose. wild crab and
cherry and field lilac.
I’m often asked about windbreaks in order to hide
industrial sites. Stronger rooting conifers are needed than Leylandiis.
Try Lawson Cypress or Western Red Cedar. If your site is a cold one,
high up in the hills, then don’t forget the hardiest conifer of
all, the old fashioned Christmas tree, the Norway Spruce.
Finally, if you already have a fence, wire or boarded,
then consider planting a variety of flowering shrubs against it. Space
5-6ft. apart. Aim for a continuous flowering. Viburnham Tinus flowers
Christmas to Easter. Then the yellow flowered Forsythia. Now take your
pick of Camelias, Lilacs, Rhodos, Snowball trees, Roses, Philadelphus,
Hebes and the Spireas. Later come the Buddeias, Hydrangeas and the yellow
flowered Hypericums.
Just a thought on pruning. I always prune after flowering. Early flowering
shrubs then have all Summer to prepare for next year.
As for soil type, a heavy soil can be opened up by including peat, but
Beech does like a sandy loam. If your soil is very heavy, ie clay, then
an alternative to Beech and very similar is Hornbeam.
Our policy is to sell the plants when
they are young. They then come in either 4cm,10cm or 1litre pots. This
makes them less dear to buy, cheaper to ship and very often easier to
establish. Because they are always at different stages of growth, we
can only quote for your requirements.
During the Winter months many plants, including most forestry plants
are sold bareroot. The expense of potting up is avoided and it’s
a lot cheaper to transport. Fifty years ago at October time the railway
platforms would have bundles of bareroot trees for Winter planting.
Then someone travelled to the USA and brought home the polypot. Gardening
has never been the same since.
If you have any queries or wish to talk hedges, then please
email me at
CountrySideInfo@Aol.Com
Alternatively tel.01239 698631(evenings)
Happy gardening!
Peter Walker