Hedge

Hello all, I am new in this forum, and new as a gardener. I plan to plant a hedge in my garden to give some privacy. After a bit of research seems there are two options for me, Privet and Cherry Laurel, I need them to grow quickly.

1, I am confused about the spacing, someone said it could be 4-5 per metre and some say 1 per metre, Does anyone have suggestions? I would like to have tall (ideally 2.5 - 3 metres) and mature hedge in 2/3 years

2, I see the prices of rootball and barefoot are vastly different (£20 vs £2), and the website suggests to plant 5/metre for barefoot and 2/metre for rootball, does it mean that most of the bareboot can not survive? Which is suggested to buy?

3, My garden had many big trees and recently most of them were cut, but still there are many roots below - when i dig the hole, it is surprising everywhere, (see a picture), it is anything i should do to before I plant the hedge?

4, what soil i should use to fill the hole since the soil from the hole is with stones and roots.

5, I live in Scotland, is it too early to plant it since still i see frost this morning?

6, Privet and Cherry Laurel, which is easier to manage? in Scotland, which has a better chance of forming a good hedge?

thanks

 

Hi

1. Most online hedging sites will give a recommended planting distance for the specific size being purchased. So these are both correct but for different size (height and maturity) plants.

2.Bareroot are most cost effective as you are not paying for a pot and compost plus they are lighter to transport etc. But you need to plant bareroot on the day they arrive so sometime practicality makes potted easier. There should be no difference re survival rates. Am surprised there is such a difference in suggested plants per metre, it could be about maturity so the two options may be similar height but the potted plants may be more mature and therefore thicker (shrubs rather than slim whipping plants). Some sites will show pictures of the options so you can see what differences there are)

3. The soil could be quite poor so worth digging in some soil improves or composted manure. You’ll need to meat any roots which will prevent planting but any others can be left to rot down naturally ( which will also feed and improve the soil)

4. See answer to 3 also stones are not an issue. They help with drainage and soil structure

5. Cant give specific advice re Scotland but general advice is that as long as the soil isn’t frozen (solid) then you’re fine. Winter is a god time to plant shrubs, trees

6. Privet and cherry laurel are like chalk and cheese. Privet can be clipped to a tight hedge, fairly narrow and to the pretty much any height you want. Good for your average sized garden.It has small leaves so easily lipped with a hedge trimmer or hand tools with an equally neat effect. It’s quite fast growing but I think you can get away with trimming maybe once a year.
Cherry laurel is naturally a tree and has large glossy leathery leaves. It is fast and strong growing but best when a large fat hedge is wanted and you have lots of room. To keep it tidy and tight as a hedge I would expect you’d need to trim it more frequently than privet.

 

I think the higher counts per metre are to allow for planting a double (staggered) row which will give you a thicker hedge more quickly.

2.5/3 metres in 2/3 years sounds very optimistic, though I guess it depends on the starting height of your plants. A garden around the corner from me planted a hedge of laurels about 5 years ago and they are nowhere near that height. Even the notorious Leylandii grow at less than a metre a year.

Bigger plants will be much more expensive and smaller plants often settle in better and produce better results in the long run.

 

5 per metre as a staggered row would be the correct specification for a stockproof hedge in hawthorn or similar. . Planted as bare root whips .(seedlings)
This to be laid in due course to create an improved hedge.
For screening purposes larger plants could be used for expediency. Developers use laurel for this purpose. Normally 2metre tall; (perhaps 2.4 cut down to 1.8 to concur with fence panels) These will be rootballed; the rootball being 400mm diameter upon a tree of that height, which dictates spacing. If space permits, then an offset double row might give a better result.
If the pre-existing trees were conifers then the decay of the roots will take 'forever' and if large roots would warrant stump grinding and/or digging. Preparing a trench will give you an indication of the necessary next steps. The removed soil can be reused to re- fill unless evidence of honey fungus (unlikely if removed trees were live until felled) Mix in plenty organic material as you do so.

 

Privet's easier to look after. Cherry laurel has much bigger leaves and if you rip through them with a hedge trimmer they look dreadful until new ones have grown out past the ones you cut (by which time if you want to keep it tight you might be thinking about the next cut). You can also keep privet narrower - a 2.5m laurel hedge will probably want to be at least a metre wide, maybe more, when it's mature. Whichever you choose, make sure to prune the sides so that they slope out a bit towards the base so that the bottom is wider than the top (called a "batter") so that the base gets sun and doesn't go bald.

 

Thank you all. I appreciate your replies, which are very valuable to me. I have the following questions:

1, The website says I have to water the hedge weekly in the first year, which is quite a work, is this the case in the UK/Scotland(which has more rain?)

2, the top-level of the soil, are leaves (since it was under big trees) and network-like stuff i am not sure that can be used for planting the hedge, when digger deeper, I can see the soil but I suppose I need to but some, any suggestions?

3, someone said i have to plant the bare root the same day when it is delivered but considering i live in Scotland and I see most of the companies selling the hedge are from England, is it an issue?

4, I did a look around I found most of the hedges around are privet, but some have more leaves and some are nearly bare, is it because of different species or other reasons?

5, do I need to use weed-killer chemicals to remove the roots in the trench? Though the trees are removed I thought the roots could still be alive for a long time and compete with the hedge, is it true?

 

It depends on a variety of things:
- if the weather is warm and dry then the plants will transpire faster so will need watering more often, less so in cooler wetter weather

-Better to water more thoroughly but less often

-Best not to leave the roots waterlogged for long periods

- I wouldn't be watering beyond late September or so

 

I walked past the young laurel hedge near me today and had a good look at it. I'm only short - just over 5 foot. The tallest plants were nearly shoulder height on me, the worst ones were less than knee height and some were turning yellow. It didn't look like anyone had weeded around them, or paid any attention at all to them since they were planted.

 

5)
No, most certainly not. Very few species will regrow from roots alone. You will have disturbed any stumps in digging, hopefully then removed.

 

4. Privet is semi-evergreen so it does go a bit bare in winter particularly if there's a cold snap (and you probably get more of those than we do). Mine is quite sparse in terms of leaves, but the twig structure is dense enough that it still works as a hedge, once it's mature and clipped regularly, and it'll green up pretty quickly in the spring.

 

thank you all!

 

Very handy advice, thanks.