What type of hedge?

I'm planning on removing some conifers and some ugly looking trees from our front garden and want to enclose some areas off to give us a bit of privacy....Anyway - hoping to quickly block that building out which currently can see over our front garden.

We don't tend to use the front garden so much, despite it being lovely and big, because we are over looked. Also, can't really plant anything of significance in the centre as we have ground source heat pumps and the system is under the front garden. The people who owned it before us had big problems and had it all ripped out and got it fixed - hence the bumpy state of the ground (it's gradually flattening out again).

So anyway - need something that will grow fairly quickly and provide an evergreen screening for the area between our wall and the next door neighbour, and also around a corner to block off the horrid neighbours.

The ground: Heavy clay (although last few years I have been digging in lots of well rotted manure).

The aspect: Hot sunny aspect all day in summer. Can be quite dry but have got an automatic watering system I can set up if needs be.

Location: farm location on bucks/beds border. Can get quite frosty esp winter mornings.

Desired Height: 2 meters

Have seen a hedge nearby which Silver Surfer has identified as "Holm Oak" - seems to grow quick and looks nice and full but wasn't sure how major the root system is on this type - could it cause problems? Also thought about Griselinia but have read it is not that hardy. I really like the look at it but don't want it to die off and waste a load of money. It would be planted next to the wall so that might protect it from harsher weather?

Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Where to purchase from etc?

Thanks very much in advance

 

I like the beech hedging. Our one is easy maintenance, lush in summer keeps its brown leaves in winter.
Takes the cold weather easily,good windbreaker,never watered it,not too expensive to buy young plants either.

 

Thanks @WeeTam I'll look that up now!

 

I love my hazel hedge and got some nuts off it this year. It is not super fast growing - I have had mine 3 years and I have been pruning it down to encourage more dense bushy growth. I have seen hazel hedges which are very tall and very dense so it can be achieved with a little patience.

Alternatively a hedge of buddleia bushes is very fast growing and would also give you flowers.

Both are good in clay soil

You could also look at a hedge made up of different trees. Have you watched the TED talk "How to build a forest in your back yard", he plants trees of 4 different heights close together to encourage fast dense growth. Could perhaps be applied to a double or triple layer hedge for some of the benefits.

 

We have a beech hedge that separates our front garden from next doors even though we also have a picket fence we put the hedge in as two year old whips because the wind blasts along the road and hits everything in its path.Even our Rowan and Lilac tree lean as it took a little while for the whips to grow and by then the trees had started to lean a bit despite us staking them

We like the fact that all through the spring and summer we have a screen of green leaves which makes it nice and private and then in the autumn the green leaves turn a copper colour which looks fantastic when the sun shines on them.The only problem we find some years especially in the summer of 2018 that the roots got a bit dry despite me chucking plenty of water from the washing up on them so when we get the strong winds in the autumn and winter months the leaves get dessicated so shrivel up and fall off leaving the hedge a bit sparse so if you go for this type of hedging you will have to keep the roots quiet moist although we see plenty of these types of hedges around that all look pretty good.

Mr Kandy trims the top and sides once a year in August to stop the hedge getting too tall.He was doing it with shears but it was getting a bit time consuming so he invested in one of those electric hedge trimmers and got it done in half the time so this is something you need to think about if you go for this type of hedge.

I have also found the birds enjoy sitting amongst the branches in the summer months and foraging at the base of the hedge for seeds and bugs to eat

 

Thanks both for the good suggestions. I've got a good battery powered Bosch hedge cutter which will no doubt come in handy.

I've got a contorted hazel in the back garden but loses a lot of leaves - even though the catkins look lovely and have had a few nuts too. The little birds certainly like it!

How long did the beech take to grow? I'm hoping to grow it to about 2 meters. So what usually happens to the brown lives after winter? They must come of at some point I'd have thought?

 

You said you wanted an evergreen hedge so beech and hazel are out on their own. Beech is not good on clay anyway. What’s wrong with good old privet? Boring you might say but it is evergreen most years in southern England. What about a mixed hedge? Say 50% privet and the rest made up of holly, buddlea, hazel, wild roses and box? As a bonus it’s good for wildlife and two of those are evergreen.

 

Thanks Redwing. I was wondering about privet actually. I've got lots of buddlea, holly and actually hazel and box in the back garden (sorry to be annoying lol). Was looking for something different in the front. I was hoping this hedge might keep a couple of naughty cats out my front garden who keep attacking the birds lol.

 

Different isn’t necessarily best. You want privacy, you say but you need evergreens for that in the winter. Whatever you decide don’t plant the dreaded layandii. You could consider some smaller conifers as part of a mixed hedge. I have wild roses in my mixed hedge and when it’s really cold Fieldfares feed on the hips.

 

@Redwing no way - I am ripping out those disgusting conifers and not going to put anything like leylandi in. Yes, I would like evergreens (dont think I said I wanted otherwise ?)

That's the other thing with the garden - all the roses get black spot despite being treated properly following all the rules.

Lucky you having field fares...that's just made me think actually - thought I had mistle thrushes feeding on rose hips and berries etc but I wonder if they are actually field fares! Will have to get my new binoculars out!

 

I made a mixed hedge of golden privet, hawthorn, cotoneaster simonsii. I would also add blackthorn or spindle if doing it again. Withstands cold winds in rural Notts and yucky clay. even though not all evergreen it has interest all year

 

@Snorky85 I am not 100% sure how long the hedge took to grow tall but you might be able to buy some potted ones from a specialist tree and hedge nursery that have grown them to a good height for a few years for people who haven’t got the patience to wait so this is something you would have to look into.

Hubby has the Bosch hedge trimmer like yours with the battery and he found it easy to use and it made the task even easier than using shears.

The new green leaves that come through in the spring actually push the copper leaves out of the way when the time and conditions are right and it is truly wonderful to watch the hedge progression as it goes from copper to green then the green leaves turn the copper colour in the autumn.I usually collect up the leaves as they fall as I find if I leave them on the ground the small black keel slugs like to collect under them so I compost the leaves over at our allotment then bring them back to spread on the ground as leaf mould a year later.

 

Now is a good time to buy bare rooted mixed hedging, a very economical way of buying hedging. Over recent years we’ve planted quite a lot of mixed hedging in three gardens (ours and others) and all have established well. There are some good online nurseries with good offers.

 

Depending on how close the captors for the heating system are to the boundary, the primary consideration will be what sort of root systems the hedging plants have. I've got the same sort of heating and am strictly forbidden, on pain of pain, to plant anything more vigorous than a strawberry plant within 3m of the captors. I've never yet found a reliable source of information on shrubs and trees' root systems. If anyone knows of one, please tell
Edited to add: Pecan nut tree roots go straight down, Acacia dealbata and Wisteria are two of the worst for invasiveness. (Is that a word?)

 

I pulled all my conifers out and put bamboo in instead. It's green all year round and fast growing. Mine have been in for less than 2 years and started out at only a few feet tall and the tips are now about 2 meters. They just need to fill out a little more and at the rate of growth i expect by the end of next summer they will provide a good amount of privacy. Clay may not be great but if you could perhaps raise the border a little and fill with manure/compost you may be ok. Cost wise it depends how established you want to start with. You can buy large established plants for a head start but they will cost a lot. Campbell robusta seems to be well regarded for hedging and is what I went with.