How to renovate a hedge?

Hi,

I am hoping that someone here can give some advice on how to improve a long-established but recently neglected hedge. The aim is to improve privacy whilst giving wildlife a chance.

The hedge forms a boundary with a public playground, which overlooks our garden. I am pretty sure the hedge is a fairly naturally arising combination of native species, but being a novice gardener I am not at all sure.

I am guessing that the first step for improving it is drastic pruning, but I was wondering if there are any particular climbers that would grow rapidly and add density that could supplement it. Dog Rose? Rambling Rose? Clematis?

Or are there particular species of shrub or tree that work well as in-fill?

As we have a toddler, things that are neither especially spiky nor poisonous would be good!

Advice welcome and appreciated,

Crawf

 

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Most hedging types can be pruned back quiet hard, but that sounds counter productive if you want to preserve the screen effect ?

Also you need to be careful what type of plants you use incase they could be harmful to children, eg thorns etc.

Think we really need to see some good pics of your hedge so we can identify what plants are in there now along with some guide as to how high you want it to be in the future.

 

Hi,

As suggested, a few photos! Hope they show enough detail despite poor lighting and lack of people/lamp-posts for scale!

 

@CrawfEE Is the photo taken looking out from your property towards the playing field?
If so then the hedge is on top of a retaining wall or on the other side of the wall. The wall will help keep the toddler out of the hedge. Both dog roses and rambling roses are thorny.
A native hedge would have been maintained by laying to keep it thick and stock proof. These days hedges are either left to become overgrown or flailed to death.
I would start by clearing out some of the material growing on the wall/hedge bottom so you can have a clearer view of what needs doing. Then probably cut out a third of the growth at the base of each bush and allow it to regrow and see what happens. If regrowth is good then repeat next year. if not you might want to consider removal and replanting. Planting into an established hedge is problematic as it is difficult for young saplings to get sufficient light, water and nutrients. Next winter you could consider planting some native hedging into the bigger gaps.
One final thing is the hedge the boundary, or is the wall the boundary?

 

Just wondering if this - whatever it might be that we have elsewhere in the garden - would be suitable for planting at the bottom of this hedge? Thinking we might only need 3 feet of height, and it seems pretty dense....

 

You planning on transplanting it to make / fill in the hedge? I reckon it will sit still for 3, maybe only 2, years ... and it is unlikely to be ina hurry to bush up, and knit together (sideways) thereafter

Could you get the existing hedge layed? That would be the fastest way to get an existing "countryside hedge" back to being a really thick hedge . provided there is enough material in the existing hedge