Planting conifers

I want to plant some conifers to form a barrier between mine and my neighbour's garden. Is this a good time or should I wait until spring. What variety will grow quickly but not too high as I am disabled and pruning will be a problem in the future

 

Hi,

Thats a bit difficult as the fast growing conifers do grow tall and wide and need regular pruning to keep in check, but the slow growers are just that and can take years to get to a reasonable height.

You do not mention what height or length you are after, but perhaps 6ft fencing or trellis panels might be a more instant fix and then plant some more decorative and easy to manage plants to grow up it ?

 

I appreciate that Ricky. I think I'll have to put up with the pruning and find someone to do it for me.
I want a height of about 8 feet and a width of about 30 feet. You didn't mention varieties or the best time to be thinking about planting.
Cheers
Mick

 

My preferred plant for hedging is Yew, always they say it is slow, but not as slow as all that, and once it reaches the desired height just one clipping a year will keep it happy.

Something a bit faster is Thuja, or you could try Lawsons Cypress, some different varieties of both available.

As @ricky101 says, if you pick a fast grower it will need more trimming in later years.
A hedging plant that will grow quickly but not too high is, IMO , something yet to be made .

PS, planting now should be ok as long as not waterlogged, but I'd get it done before hard frost threatens.

 

Hi,

Whatever Conifer or hedging you go for you can get bare rooted which are normal only sold to be planted between November and March -ish, weather permitting or as pot grown which can go in anytime of the year.

As mentioned before Conifers will take some years to grow together to form a strong hedge if thats your need.

Is it more to just screen a view or to stop humans or animals coming in as well ?

We have only ever planted Leylandii as a screen and kept it to about 7ft tall , but we intermixed it with Pyracantha , Holly and others to fill in the 'gaps' and also add a bit more year round interest.
Was easy enough to keep to size and shape by 3 -4 trimmings per year with electric clippers.

Have you looked at the big hedging /conifer suppliers online sites, which often have good growing /selection advice..