Planting Slow and Fast Hedge

I want to plant a yew hedge around my Vegetable patch. But Yew is slow, and its not going to be any use as a wind break for 5 years, maybe longer.

I could buy larger plants, but they are hideously expensive.

I could put fence panels behind, or possible trellis and a climber (not sure that will be sufficiently wind-proofing)

Or I wondered about planting something like Thuja "behind" and Yew in front, and then clear-felling the Thuja once the Yew is big enough.

Will the Yew do OK with the Thuja near by - sharing Light and Soil / nutrients?

When we moved in here there was a double-row hedge which was Thuja in front and Leylandii behind. I feel sure this was to establish the Thuja and had been intended to then be felled (its possible it was just to make a smarter "front" to the hedge as Thuja clips to a smart hedge with less work than Leylandii). Anyways, the Leylandii had never been controlled, it was 40' tall and had mauled the Thuja; we clear-felled the Leylandii and the Thuja is now thickening up on its back-side.

 

Personally Kristen, I don't think I'd plant Yew round a vegetable patch. I know the risk of poisoning is low but I don't think I'd tempt fate.

 

It will be a long way from the veg - 6' grass path next to the proposed hedge, then the soft fruit which is 12' at least. At the other end of the patch is the cut flowers ... so actually the "veg" is in its own island in the middle of the "veg patch". Not really thought about it that way before, but my Veg is planted on the side of the greenhouse away from the prevailing wind which was probably a good idea (if I'd actually thought about it at the time!), but either way I want a proper windbreak now.

Forget about the vegetable patch bit then, I have other areas where I want to do this so it would be good to know whether its a viable strategy, or not.

 

I'm not sure what to suggest Kristen, whatever you plant it's going to take a few years to get to a reasonable height. Have you considered Hebe or Escallonia, they are slightly faster growing than Yew. Other than that plant the yew and put something sturdy behind or in front of it, perhaps a narrow arbor and grow hardy climbers.

 

Cost-wise I can put in quite large Thuja. They'll be starting to make a reasonable hedge in 3 years, clipped-and-formed in 5. Yew (starting with plants of same price, thus smaller) will be 5 years before its getting towards waist height, and 10 years before its clipped-and-formed.

Fence panels would be a windbreak tomorrow. Look horrid though ...

I was also wondering about planting the Thuja in root-restrictive fabric. I could then sell the Thuja as a "formed hedge" in 10 years time, and the whole thing will wind up costing me nothing - might even turn a profit!

But I can't find any useful information about root-restricting materials. Anyone come across anything about them?

 

Hi Kristen I found this interesting article on tree root growth in various environments and media;

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...m4D4Aw&usg=AFQjCNHv2m0fhXMZb7_oQFowV3FxqutGRg

And this may be what you're looking for?

http://www.gardenselect.co.uk/rootex.html

 

Facinating set of slides, thanks. I've seen that Rootex on my internet travels before. £17 a metre put me off ... but Mature Hedge sells for £100 a metre, so I suppose in the grander scheme of things it would be OK. Big outlay for the 100M I have to plant though :(

I might Email the Prof in that powerpoint slide set and ask his opinion. I feel shy about doing that though - freeloading and all that.

 

Why not use scaffolders debris netting behind your Yew? It comes in a deep green colour so wont be standing out too much. Instant protection whilst waiting for the Yew to take over.

Simples !

Steve...

 

Hi Kristen, I'm just wondering if planting your Thuja, (which in theory should work as long as you leave enough space between it and the yew,) in root restrictive fabric might defeat the plan of it producing fast growth? Planting big enough plants to provide a ready windbreak in fabric would work - but be very expensive and wouldn't provide anchorage qualities of a plant put in small and allowed to grow unrestricted.
I don't think you can beat the yew as a long term solution and hate to say that the common sense option would be windbreak material ....or Lleylandii for a few years.

Actually, I'm wondering if you mean you could dig a trench and line it with fabric...allowing enough room for a few years growth and adding compost and planting the Thuja into it? This might work! The plants would need pulling apart in blocks of two or three, but it could work.

 

Hiya,Kirsten. Escallonia, griselinia, hawthorn, hebe would be quick. Planting thuya to dig up and sell again I dont think is the way.
I agree totally though with theruralgardener. Yew,has a reputation for being slow but I grow a number of varieties and it is far from slow. The yellow forms are lovely to look at, almost indestructible and require less maintenance. Dont do the fabric thing. Go online for best prices for yew. Plant 3' apart in a trench filled with well rotted compost and an,organic fertiliser. Erect a cheap windbreak, if you really think you need it, too behind the yew. it's a job you will want to do once. Yew is a once for all planting.

 

The debris netting I have protecting my Brassicas from Cabbage Whites is much more "day-glo" then "deep green"!! but there must be less intrusive colours. Good idea, thanks; I've been thinking about using debris netting for wind-break in other parts of the garden - the pucker Para-web stuff is blinking expensive, and I'd need telegraph poles to reliably support it (might need something substantial to support debris netting too if I install it to a decent height); no doubting that Debris netting is much more affordable, and I suppose a single-width (a metre or so?) would be enough to get the plants up to waist height more quickly, then they can look after themselves after that. I have rabbit netting along 2 sides where the hedge will go, so attaching Debris netting to that should be fine (strength-wise) so minimal cost + time & effort.

Yes, that was exactly my plan.

I think Escallonia / Hawthorn are too "open", until mature, compared to a conifer. In time they will make a matted hedge, but Thuja will be denser from the get-go - obviously gaps between the plants until it joins up. (I should be considering Leylandii, for speed, of course, but I hate the stuff. If I plant to then "remove" rather than "resell" I'd be quite happy with Leylandii). No experience of Griselinia - I know the plant but have never grown it. It might be a better shape / density for the protection of the yew. (I know that higher density will make the wind go "round"/"over", rather than "through" but at reduced speed, but I think that's what I need medium-term to get any airflow over the Yew so they have no/reduced transpirational stress, hence my thinking to use a conifer as the windbreak).

Personally Thuja has been very quick for me in the past (certainly as quicker/quicker than the likes of Hawthorn / Hornbeam, but with the benefit that evergreen provides more wind protection in the Winter; its not as quick as Leylandii of course, but doesn't have all Leylandii's commensurate problems). Thuja will make a very smart clipped hedge, until the Yews are full sized and can take over that job (in fact Thuja will look as good as Yew from a distance)

I have stopped growing Hebe here as in cold winters it gets clobbered - but that might just be the varieties I have grown, and maybe there is a more suitable variety for hedging?

Its definitely slow here until it gets established. I have bought really good selected cultivars (rather than just Heinz-50's grown, presumably, from seed). They are very upright (not like Irish, but my guess is they are probably T. hicksii or some selected variation of that), but even so those take a couple of years before they do anything, and then I get a foot a year at best from them, maybe a few inches more in a good hedge-growing year like this one. So Yew is a 10-year-deal, whereas my experience of Thuja is that it has established straightaway and has then done 2' a year thereafter (although I expect that Leylandii could well do 3' a year) so its a 5-year-deal, and taller-plants are reasonable cost effective (unlike Yew!) which reduces the time further.

Indeed I've been buying & planting 1,000 hedge plants, or so, each year for the last 5 or so years ... only another year or two to go and I don't think I'll have any more locations needing them! so I've got to know the outlets that have good prices and also good quality.

Personally I think that's way too wide (unless planting really tall plants perhaps, but they are prohibitively expensive) - it will be far too long before they knit together. Having said that I'm not swayed by the planting distances that the online websites tell me - they have a vested interest in selling me more plants and I think they are just copying from long held convention, whereas there is probably some research done into hedge spacing plantings and how they turn out, in the long run. In the absence of having looked for any such articles I am swayed by Christo Lloyds writings on the subject: that mature hedge plants will struggle for food if planted too close together etc. and his recommendation of 50% wider than the recommended spacings (which is 33cm spacing). Having said that, the seed-grown Yew I have here are very bushy - so they might fill 3' spacings, but those don't put on height very quickly, unlike the "Hickii" ones - which are narrower.

I'm left with:

Cheap windbreak - will look awful, but maybe only needed for a couple of years.

Fencing panels - look less bad, effective from day one. Need to look at the cost for that, they were cheaper than I thought last time I looked; might even find a job-lot on eBay

Second "protective" row of a faster hedging plant. Will look nice, sooner, but will not provide any benefit in the short term. (Having said that, my veg plot has been there for 7 years and has been productive - its not a wide open prarie! - so instant-barrier is not required, but a windbreak will definitely bring the Yew onstream faster based based on my experiences with other Yew planted here). Possible [significant] profit from selling the protective-row later.