Best Hedge?

[puntloos]

As the subject says. But more detail:
 

- Year long cover

- possible to make/keep thin - I don't want to sacrifice more of my small garden than I have to, so if I can have 500mm thick and 2m tall yet still not see-through that would be amazing. 

- Easy to maintain (at least - won't die too quickly in frost or prolonged heat)

- Can grow up to 2m, ideally quickly-ish

- No other negatives known, for example some plants drain a LOT of water and actually cause concern for structural engineers if they dry out the clay etc

-  Anything else I should care about? Smell? Cleanup (does it shed?) Pollen?

 

My current shortlist is 

- Laurel

- English Yew

 

But not even sure if either actually hits some or most of my criteria! 

 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by puntloos

[Marvin]

Yew takes along time to grow...

[Redoctober]

mmm, interesting one - Yew is a slow grower and requires plenty of water in the early years. Laurel has a faster growing rate but I'm not sure it will satisfy your 500 mm thickness requirement without too much maintenance and /or at the cost of it being "see through" in places.

 

Closer knit hedges with a fast growing rate which can be trimmed may include Leylandii but they require a lot of maintenance to keep under control.

 

Take a look at some native hedging such as Hornbeam, Beech or even Hawthorn. These can be purchased at various stages of growth and offer interest all year round. That said, they might not satisfy all your requirements.

 

Sounds like your hedging issues are causing you to choose two options from a hoped for 3 - similar to the most overriding issue self builders have - Time/Budget/Quality - good luck.

[puntloos]

2 minutes ago, Marvin said:

Yew takes along time to grow...

Yeah I heard that. 

 

1 minute ago, Redoctober said:

mmm, interesting one - Yew is a slow grower and requires plenty of water in the early years. Laurel has a faster growing rate but I'm not sure it will satisfy your 500 mm thickness requirement without too much maintenance and /or at the cost of it being "see through" in places.

 

Closer knit hedges with a fast growing rate which can be trimmed may include Leylandii but they require a lot of maintenance to keep under control.

 

Take a look at some native hedging such as Hornbeam, Beech or even Hawthorn. These can be purchased at various stages of growth and offer interest all year round. That said, they might not satisfy all your requirements.

 

Sounds like your hedging issues are causing you to choose two options from a hoped for 3 - similar to the most overriding issue self builders have - Time/Budget/Quality - good luck.

Ha, as per usual. 

 

I just got a quote from a grower that they would be willing to deliver and plant a 10m wide, 2m tall, 1m deep laurel hedge for about 900quid which is a pretty good baseline for me.

But indeed yew seems to be better. (although I do think laurel is prettier, it feels more like a 'forest')

 

Maybe we can get some grower (budget...?) to grow laurel between glass plates or something so it sticks to 50cm?

 

 

[Marvin]

The problem with Leylandii is that if you cut it back too hard it will stay bare.

[Marvin]

7 minutes ago, puntloos said:

Maybe we can get some grower (budget...?) to grow laurel between glass plates or something so it sticks to 50cm?

Your having a laugh!!!

[puntloos]

2 minutes ago, Marvin said:

Your having a laugh!!!

Of course - I mean I wouldn't be shocked if it existed for the ultra rich - but not practical for mere mortals I'm sure.

[Temp]

https://3fatpigs.co.uk/30-cherry-laurel-2-3ft-multi-stemmed-prunus-rotundifolia-evergreen-hedging/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&utm_content=free google shopping clicks&gclid=CjwKCAjwoNuGBhA8EiwAFxomAxoliu-A05hqwG4OF2X2hj52kKLEpJJXo9M1O6CnACe6jDdH_6LP-BoC9zwQAvD_BwE

 

30 bare rooted 2-3ft plants under £100.

 

Can't plant until winter though.

[Temp]

16 minutes ago, puntloos said:

I just got a quote from a grower that they would be willing to deliver and plant a 10m wide, 2m tall, 1m deep laurel hedge for about 900quid which is a pretty good baseline for me.

That looks like a pretty good price for that height.

[Gone West]

We used Eleagnus at our last place. It's evergreen, has tiny very fragrant flowers and then berries. It's easy to control but grows quite fast.

 

https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/oleaster-elaeagnus-x-ebbingei.html

 

 

[Bramco]

1 minute ago, Gone West said:

We used Eleagnus at our last place.

Where are you?

 

I'm sure that's not on our the list prescribed by our LPA - hawthorn, blackthorn, cherry.....    nothing eleagnus.....  sounds iffy to me, foreign....   irony from a remain voter... 

[Gone West]

2 minutes ago, Bramco said:

Where are you?

I was in East Kent at the time. The LPA didn't have a say in the matter as I was planting it as a barrier between my front and back gardens.

[nod]

1 hour ago, puntloos said:

As the subject says. But more detail:
 

- Year long cover

- possible to make/keep thin - I don't want to sacrifice more of my small garden than I have to, so if I can have 500mm thick and 2m tall yet still not see-through that would be amazing. 

- Easy to maintain (at least - won't die too quickly in frost or prolonged heat)

- Can grow up to 2m, ideally quickly-ish

- No other negatives known, for example some plants drain a LOT of water and actually cause concern for structural engineers if they dry out the clay etc

-  Anything else I should care about? Smell? Cleanup (does it shed?) Pollen?

 

My current shortlist is 

- Laurel

- English Yew

 

But not even sure if either actually hits some or most of my criteria! 

 

 

Laurel 

300 mil plants to this in two year 

We’ve kept cutting the height to thicken them out 

[Mr Punter]

Privet can work well.  If you are looking at Eleagnus, consider Elaeagnus × ebbingei 'Gilt Edge'.  It is lighter and is variegated.

[tanneja]

We like Red Robin.  Yet to plant ourselves but plan for a mature clear stem tree variant for the back garden to hide a neighbour, then have them as hedges around the perimeter of the front.  I have seen examples where the foliage is satisfying dense, and others where it looks bare.  My guess is that it is dependant on your pruning frequency and technique in the younger years of the hedge, ensuring it has sufficient growth at low level.  I might invest in a gardener once every few months who knows the optimal cut strategy to get a dense hedge.

 

Really like the combination green and red new growth and relatively small leaves compared to standard laurel, also red robin looks less waxy to my eye.  Has a bit of a japanese vibe to my eye.

[Ferdinand]

I would consider having a variety of species for interest.

 

You can also make an interesting hedge from Evergreen Oak (Holm Oak). if the Council are trying to make it into a municipal park, i would gently ignore them as much as possible.

 

The RHS have a page with a *lot* of suggestions, then links to a page about each.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=351

 

Hawthorn is good - you can then encourage one or two of them to make small trees. I used to live somewhere called Thorn Cottage which had a red flowered Hawthorn tree on one corner, and a white on another. I'm doubtful about Laurel as a thin hedge - big leaves.

 

And you can also add in a flowering climber or three to add colour.

 

I'd encourage you to allow slightly more heinght so birds in their little nests will feel safer and more cat-proof.

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, tanneja said:

We like Red Robin.  Yet to plant ourselves but plan for a mature clear stem tree variant for the back garden to hide a neighbour, then have them as hedges around the perimeter of the front.  I have seen examples where the foliage is satisfying dense, and others where it looks bare.  My guess is that it is dependant on your pruning frequency and technique in the younger years of the hedge, ensuring it has sufficient growth at low level.  I might invest in a gardener once every few months who knows the optimal cut strategy to get a dense hedge.

 

Really like the combination green and red new growth and relatively small leaves compared to standard laurel, also red robin looks less waxy to my eye.  Has a bit of a japanese vibe to my eye.

 

Bottom wide than top.

IN the early years keep pruning back to pairs of buds to encourage branching.

Trim back to less than desired final envelope,  so that the many-branched hedge with leaves will reach that point.