Replacing trees with screening hedging

Hi everyone. First post here, after recently joining the site!

I’ve recently moved to a new house, where the garden (a complete blank canvas) borders a railway line.

We currently have a line of very tall Lombardy Poplars and Scots Pine trees bordering the railway, just in front of a 3m fence. This is 20m in total. The trees need to be removed, and we’re arranging quotes now.

The railway line is raised up on an embankment. So, we’re looking to replace the trees with a more suitable screening, which we’d like to plant as fairly established plants so that we start to get a decent screen fairly quickly.

We’d like them to be around 4.5m in total, which might be planted in a slightly raised border.

I’m currently thinking that something like Laurel might be ideal? I prefer this to conifers, but really I’d be open to anything that would be evergreen and provide a decent, fairly thick screen.

Id be really grateful for any suggestions or advice! I’ve attached a couple of photos showing the current fence and trees.

 

Hi Chris,

I don't have much experience with hedging plants myself so others are better placed to advise on plant options, but can I ask why all the trees need to come out? I always say that I hate conifers but these don't look unappealing. Could you not take out some / most of them, but leave some and mix them with other plants? Personally I would find it more interesting if there were varying heights & plants, and it looked more like a border rather than a uniform hedge. You might feel differently though.

 

I’d have liked to have kept them really, but Network Rail have been in touch to advise that in their view, they are potentially dangerous because of how high they are and how close they are to the railway. Our neighbours have had theirs out, and the poplars in particular were in poor health.

so, we do need to take them out. It does mean that we have the opportunity to replace them with something more suitable (which will hopefully provide better sound and visual screening) and will be safer long term

 

Network rail will say they are dangerous because they have ripped out miles of trees along their lines to stop leaves on the line.
It was a bit of an issue around here a while back.
Just a suggestion but could you not have the existing trees pollarded or at least reduced in height to some extent.
Might be worth asking a tree surgeon.

 

Thanks Pete. Yeah, we’ve had a tree survey, and because trees in the line have been removed by our neighbours either side, our remaining trees are now more exposed and at risk of falling in high winds. The poplars could be reduced in height (but condition not good), but the Scott’s pine don’t tolerate this and would die

 

It's always difficult when you like something @Chris87 and someone else tells you otherwise!
If they're definitely unstable/dangerous, then you have no choice.
Laurel would certainly do the job, but you need to look at eventual maintenance of whatever you choose. They [especially cherry laurel] can become huge and it can happen quickly if the conditions suit them. Are you able to acces the other side of the fence safely, or is that not possible? That would help in terms of maintenance.
I'd go for something that's easier to maintain. Also - buying larger specimens to plant is almost always counter productive, especially if it was happening soon. They require a lot of maintenance ot get them happy and established at this time of year. Far easier to use smaller specimens - and if you wait until autumn you can buy bare root which is far, far cheaper. That would give you time to get those out, and thoroughly prep the border for new plants, which will be needed. If you're in a wetter part of the country, it's easier, but autumn is still better.
This is one site that might be worth looking at for further ideas of hedging. I've used them many times and they're excellent to work with. Another good site is Hedging Direct.
The UK's Leading Garden Hedging & Hedging Specialists | Hopes Grove Nurseries

A mixed hedge, as suggested, would be more interesting, and you could use shrubs like Eleagnus, Deutsia, Viburnum, Philadelphus etc.

 

I agree with @fairygirl about laurel taking over very quickly. It spreads witdthways too and can be a very heavy, dark, imposing presence even in wider spaces than yours.

I also concur with planting smaller, younger, bare roots specimens in well prepared soil as they will settle in and grow faster than more mature plants. Have a look at a pleached hedge - effectively trees on stilts grown in 2 dimensions so you get privacy without losing space and light

Pleached walks, tunnels and arbours / RHS
Living structures: creating and maintaining / RHS

You could use a variety of trees. Tilia (lime) is fast growing, copper beech or hornbeam are good and also cherry laurel if you want evergreen - https://www.edenwholesaleplants.co.uk/post/how-to-create-your-own-pleached-trees

 

OK the pine. Yeah of course

 

Thanks all - really appreciate all the thoughts and advice on this.

Our thinking behind purchasing established plants was to try and get some screening in place fairly quickly. As soon as the trees are gone, the garden will be very exposed. But I appreciate that it may be better to be a bit more patient.

what we really need is a fairly thick, evergreen cover to provide an element of sound insulation and of course the visual screening. I can see that laurel might not be quite right, and a native/mixed hedge would be more appropriate. But I don’t think pleached trees would be thick enough cover?

 

They can be thick or thin depending on how they're pruned and trained.

They're used a lot in Belgium to shield upper storeys from buses, lorries and so on going by and also to provide shade to parking areas. I suggest a chat with some hedging suppliers and pleaching experts would not go amiss.

 

I can understand your need for some kind of screen to help insulate noise and I think others are right to agree to the trees being removed. It's also probable that your property insurers would refuse to pay for any damage if the worst happened.
Some form of mixed hedging would be the best bet - add interest throughout the year and hopefully attract wildlife too. Griselina an evergreen shrub which will easily grow to 8/10 ft and preferable to the Laurels along with Elder, Hawthorn, Buddleja and many others. Climbers can be grown in between - basics such as the common Honeysuckle, Clematis, Jasmine and so on.
Whatever you do, it's not going to be "instant" unfortunately so once the trees are removed, concentrate on improving the soil makeup in that border. In the meantime, have a look around your neighbourhood to see what seems to do well and try to get a list of possibles. Depending on what Autumn is like, then hopefully you will be able to plant. Agree with the above that smaller specimens of anything have a far better chance of establishing successfully. Best of luck

 

Counterintuitively, larger older plants often take longer to get to the size you want than younger smaller plants...

 

Yes - you see it all the time @Stephen Southwest . People want an instant effect [which I can understand] so they buy expensive, larger plants. Unfortunately, the best method with those is to cut them back!
I'm not convinced about the idea of laurel helping block noise either. I think you'd need to allow it to be very thick and dense - a really broad hedge, for it to work to any great effect, and that means losing quite a bit of ground.
If you paint the fence @Chris87 , that will also help it 'disappear' a little bit, and be less intrusive in your plot.
Any fast growing material doesn't helpfully stop at a nice height, so you have the inevitable pruning at very regular intervals. It's why so many people end up with problems if they plant leylandii. It's easy for it to get away from them. I'm not convinced pleached trees would be the best option, and it's the maintenance [other side in particular] that could be tricky, as well as the original planting and establishing, but they certainly give height. Again-very expensive if you go for an already established set of those.

Take your time, decide what look you'd prefer, and concentrate on getting the ground/soil in good nick. Then go for some bareroot in autumn, when it's easier to get them establishing. If you plant anything woody in the next couple of months, that's a lot more work with watering, unless you're in one of the much wetter parts of the country

 

My neighbour's twelve foot laurel hedge doesn't prevent me from hearing his loud voice but at least I can't see him . This RHS article may be of some use to you:

Noise reduction / RHS

 

4.5m is going to be difficult to achieve quickly, especially planting into the soil where the trees were. Is that area going to stay lawn? You might have more luck planting some of that up to bounce and absorb the noise a little.

An easy plant that hasn't been mentioned but is normally quite evergreen, unless we get it really cold, is privet. If it does lose its leaves then it still looks dense enough to provide a barrier.