Privacy screening

[daiking]

2 hours ago, Cpd said:

If highly invasive plants are your thing then bamboo is sure work as an instant screen......... i will now stop. ...... Russian vine would be your last really bad choice.  

 

I don’t have any knotweed but I could move some Himalayan balsam from the other side of the garden when that starts sprouting again.

[Ferdinand]

14 hours ago, newhome said:

I have tried to grow some decent screening plants here but many just won’t grow in these windy conditions. I’m not right on the coast but not far off. Laurel dies, other things never grow, and some things I haven’t attempted to grow. Not tried photinia as I thought it looked pretty but too delicate. Hebe and ceanothus seem to be ok. I’ve just bought a tall bay tree / bush that I’m pretty sure will die! 

 

1 My grandparents used to have Myrtle in a hedge right on the beach road in Prestatyn, which worked. The soil was almost sand.

 2 Might Aucuba be better than Laurel?

3 For salt tolerance I would suggest a small tree such as Tamarisk, or Holm (Evergreen) Oak. The latter can be cut into a good hedge. Or various sorts of evergreen (eg Juniper). Tamarisk can be a bit of a bully.

Ferdinand

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

19 hours ago, daiking said:

I’m looking for something cheap that wont take much room but will cover the gap later this summer (not asking much, lol). 

 

Maintenance wise not bothered, I’ll hack them back when needed. It’s just that when everything else springs to life in the next week or so it will be the only part that is left open. Until last year the brambles did a great job but I cut them back to the ground and now some of the houses on that side will look down onto our patio.

 

if I can plant a 3ft leylandi now and it be a 6ft tree by the autumn I would be happy.

 

My first reaction to "fill a 2 fence panel" gap was "2 new fence panels, perhaps screwed to a knocker post" but I am guessing that is not what you want.

 

I think the challenge is "what will establish and thrive in year 1" *and* grow thickly enough to be a visual block, and TBH I do not know anything that will unless it is a reasonably big plant in a big pot, and you plan to discard or transplant within a year or two, or a climber in a big pot that will go up a framework (eg trellis or even chainlink).

 

The 2 possible ideas I have are to use in a coppice form. I have Common Bhuddlea, which goes 2m high in a year, or Eucalyptus, which can be grown as a coppice. The latter may need more time to start.

 

I have a screening bamboo (Gigantica, I think) for next door's bathroom window, which should get to 5+ metres, but after 4 years reaches 3m+ in the summer then goes back smaller in the winter (currently at about 2.5m) whilst going a bit higher each year and thickening. Our soil is not rich, but it is in a former asparagus raised bed with lots of compost from the start so should be well fed.

 

The other thought I have is to use a fabric backdrop and plants in front. I saw very convincing use of astroturf over site fencing around building compounds in Istanbul. Made it all look much greener.

 

The other Other thought is to find someone with a big bush they need to move and have that with much labour. "Wants" on freecycle? Local gardening club?

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by Ferdinand
Missed out apostrophe, Grrr.

[daiking]

28 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

My first reaction to "fill a 2 fence panel" gap was "2 new fence panels, perhaps screwed to a knocker post" but I am guessing that is not what you want.

 

I think the challenge is "what will establish and thrive in year 1" *and* grow thickly enough to be a visual block, and TBH I do not know anything that will unless it is a reasonably big plant in a big pot, and you plan to discard or transplant within a year or two, or a climber in a big pot that will go up a framework (eg trellis or even chainlink).

 

The 2 possible ideas I have are to use in a coppice form. I have Common Bhuddlea, which goes 2m high in a year, or Eucalyptus, which can be grown as a coppice. The latter may need more time to start.

 

I have a screening bamboo (Gigantica, I think) for next door's bathroom window, which should get to 5+ metres, but after 4 years reaches 3m+ in the summer then goes back smaller in the winter (currently at about 2.5m) whilst going a bit higher each year and thickening. Our soil is not rich, but it is in a former asparagus raised bed with lots of compost from the start so should be well fed.

 

The other thought I have is to use a fabric backdrop and plants in front. I saw very convincing use of astroturf over site fencing around building compounds in Istanbul. Made it all look much greener.

 

The other Other thought is to find someone with a big bush they need to move and have that with much labour. "Wants" on freecycle? Local gardening club?

 

Ferdinand

 

 

*shrugs*

 

It’s all unknowns.  I just have a strong suspicion that what we’re building in the next month will need some screening but only a couple of metres height not 4-5m. 

[newhome]

35 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

1 My grandparents used to have Myrtle in a hedge right on the beach road in Prestatyn, which worked. The soil was almost sand.

 2 Might Aucuba be better than Laurel?

3 For salt tolerance I would suggest Tamarisk, or Holm (Evergreen) Oak. The latter can be cut into a good hedge. Or various sorts of evergreen (eg Juniper).

 

 

Thsnks! Not tried Myrtle so I will look at that and the others you mention. I have 4 Aucuba but none of them are doing great. I think the leaves just don’t stand up to being battered by the wind constantly. Leaves get ripped off by it. I do like them though so will leave them here for now and see if they pick up. They’ve only been in for under 2 years so far. 

 

Any suggestions for something evergreen I could grow in a pot to reach circa 6 foot? 

 

 

[Gone West]

20 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Any suggestions for something evergreen I could grow in a pot to reach circa 6 foot? 

 

 

Griselinia is suitable for coastal areas and I think looks great.

[Cpd]

Just now, PeterStarck said:

Griselinia

Yes i grow it on the Scottish west coast close to the sea and its going great, i have read that there are both hardy and non hardy types so make sure to get the hardy one. 

[newhome]

12 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

Griselinia is suitable for coastal areas and I think looks great.

 

9 minutes ago, Cpd said:

Yes i grow it on the Scottish west coast close to the sea and its going great, i have read that there are both hardy and non hardy types so make sure to get the hardy one. 

 

Thanks! Will have a look out for that in the garden centre. Don’t recall seeing it (or Myrtle) but will ask next time I go. 

 

 

[newhome]

Griselinia purchased from the garden centre. Never heard of it before but they had 3 types! I have bought one variegated and one not and will see how they do. The guy who advised me said that the variegated one which is a bit larger had been growing there outside for a year and had done well, and the green one was less of a known quantity as it was a new arrival. Thanks @PeterStarck and @Cpd  I will be planting them tomorrow. 

 

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Well, after a day's hard slog we managed to dig out and remove a few more tonnes of crap clay/rubble and replace it with around 10 tonnes of nice topsoil, that filled my nice new "tree planter" as well as the two remaining areas of claggy grot left over from building the house.  Seven trees are now planted (not the main screening trees, we're still looking for those), two cherry trees, one either side of the drive ("Shogetsu", or Shimidsu Sakura), two red flowering crataegus "Paul's Scarlet" standards behind them on either side of the drive, then on the front side of the drive we've planted a silver birch, then a Pyrus "Chanticlear" and finally a white beam, Sorbus Aria "Lutescens".  I've also managed to weed out between all the surviving bare root hedging we put in at the time of the build (a lot of which didn't survive) and planted a few more field maples.  I need to quickly go and get a few more hawthorn/blackthorn plants to fill in some gaps.

 

Working down in the bottom of the slope, where the hedging is, is evil.  The slope is steep, and things like the wild rose and hawthorns and blackthorns are just out to get you.  I've managed to weed out and lay black weed suppressing fabric down there and although it's pegged down, I'm going back over the steeper, narrow, areas, with some 13mm chicken wire, pegged down with big staples. 

 

Wickes have a good offer on bark chippings at the moment, four 90 litre bags for the price of three, at £7 per bag, which works out cheaper than having dumpy bags delivered around here.  I managed to get 12 bags in the car this morning (the car didn't like it much, it has to be said - my guess is that the weight in the back was around 1/2 tonne, as the bark chippings were soaking wet inside the bags), but it managed OK.  Another two, maybe three, car loads will cover up all the remaining weed fabric, I hope.

 

The bark chippings stay put OK on the more level areas (it was a bit windy today, so a good test), but aren't going to stay in place on the steeper banked areas, so the plan is to spread the bark chippings over the weed fabric, then lay chicken wire over the top and staple it down.  Where it abuts against the drive kerb haunching I've got some stainless penny washers and self-threading concrete screws, that I hope should hold down the folded edge of the chicken wire OK to the concrete.  Eventually we'll plant some ground cover plants in slits cut through the chicken wire and fabric, once things are more established.  The main aim at the moment is to just stop the weeds from competing with the hedging and trees, especially where it's really difficult to get down and weed effectively.

 

Next job is to choose the big screening trees, and plant them in the nice topsoil that's in the big planter.  One advantage of putting the other trees in first is that we now have a far better idea of the size and screening effect of just the 2.5m to 3m high deciduous trees that we've already put in.  The other good news is that my other half is coming around to the idea of at least one Photinia "Red Robin" standard; I like them and best of all I can get a nice 3.5m standard for a not to horrendous price.  A bay tree is also looking a distinct possibility, too, but we're still undecided on the others (I now think we need four, rather than three, bigger trees).

 

I still bloody hate gardening, though....................

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CC45]

looking forward to seeing the pictures.......

 

We've got this all coming our way next year hopefully.

 

I still miss the blogs.....

[Jeremy Harris]

I'll try and update the blog with some more photos of the landscaping, once I've finished most of the planting, maybe this coming weekend.

[Jeremy Harris]

Just thought I'd post these photos of the first olives on the olive tree we planted as a part of the privacy screening along the front:

 

 

 

Everyone we've spoken to has said that we'd not get any olives on a tree grown here, and to be honest I wasn't expecting anything at all this year, as we only planted this tree in March, but it surprised me with the amount of flowers we got in Spring and has surprised me again by producing a few olives.  Perhaps it will do better next year, when it's had a chance to get a bit more established.

[Onoff]

I've got loads of figs coming on the tree my brother wanted rid of a few years back. I think it's done well as its in a sheltered spot.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Onoff

[HerbJ]

SWMBO ( Yvonne) is the gardener. She has planted a small olive tree and fig tree in the new garden.

 

The olive tree is in a raised planter, outside the kitchen window with the herbs and still getting established. The fig tree has been  planted for a couple of years in a very sunny position and has lot of figs, which have started to drop off and bullet hard. We will have to wait until next year before we get to try them!

 

We love figs but they need to be fresh and properly ripe. We buy (and eat) a lot in Spain, readily available and cheap from the market and shops in season (June). But, we can't seem to find decent figs  in the UK and they are expensive.  No matter that they look and feel like the figs we buy in Spain, they never properly ripen and are always disappointing

Edited September 7, 2018 by HerbJ

[Mr Punter]

We have grown Eleagnus (x Ebbingi?) in the past as a screen.  Evergreen, grew tall and has fragrant flowers in winter. Quite tough too.

[Jeremy Harris]

I'm quite pleased with the way our mix of trees has worked so far.  When I first planted them I was a bit concerned that they wouldn't spread out at the top, but I think that, because they were all fairly mature (around 4.5 to 5m tall) when we bought them, they had been either pruned or wrapped tightly with mesh for transport, so weren't as bushy as we'd hoped.  The olive, in particular, has really spread out a lot, and the photinias aren't doing too badly, but the big bay tree, the most expensive of them all by a fair margin, seems to be a bit sluggish, though, although there are lots of bright green new leaves, so with luck it will gradually fill out a bit.

 

All the other trees are doing  well, the two white flowering cherry trees have done very well, both flowered this spring, just a couple of months after being planted, both the scarlet flowering hawthorn trees are now OK, although both had a slow start, and one was very slow - it didn't come into leaf until July, so much for it being the "May Tree"!  The silver birch, whitebeam and pyrus chanticleer are all doing exceptionally well, especially as they were all bare root, fairly mature, trees that weren't expensive (as in far less than 1/10 of the cost of some of the others).  I think the secret has been in using mycorrhizal fungi when planting everything, putting a handful of blood fish and bone into every hole and, perhaps most importantly, setting up an automatic irrigation system, that has ensured all the trees were watered, directly to their root area, via a bit of drain pipe filled with pebbles, twice a day.

[pdf27]

This thread has got me thinking about a problem of my own. Some way before the bottom of our garden we have a selection of rather large and somewhat ugly Leylandii, courtesy of the previous owners. There are some smaller trees beyond them (2 very mature apple trees, one that I think is probably hazel, a plum tree and some mixed shrubs), but realistically if we take them down we'll want replace them with something else to largely block out the sight of the houses at the back. Essentially I'd like to thicken up the existing block of deciduous trees at the back rather than just create a screen from scratch.

 

 

I don't think we need evergreens as the garden isn't likely to be used much in winter and the plot is fairly large (200ft x 50ft) with the house towards the other end of it, so the overlooking isn't serious. We're also likely to be here for a while so can afford to plant smaller trees that will take a few years to become established. Ideal ultimate height would be about 5-6m - enough to fully block out the view of the houses but no more: that view is almost directly north and the fruit trees are currently suffering quite badly from shading.

 

Ideas so far are:

• Half-standard cherry tree (flowers, wildlife and eating)
• Half standard pear tree (flowers and eating)
• Magnolia (flowers)
• Mountain Laurel (flowers)
• Lilac (flowers)
• Rowan (berries, leaves, height without overshading fruit trees behind)

Any other suggestions? I figure we probably want 3-4 trees to fill up the gap.

[ThePoplars]

To give a bit of interest during the winter, you might want to go for things with interesting bark. 

 

I love Silver Birch Jacquemontii - I've bought Doorenbos but there are other stunning white bark varieties.  It grows taller than 6m but you can keep on top of pruning relatively easily.  

 

Acer Palmatum Sango-kaku has stunning red stems in winter and Acer Griseum has fabulous peeling rust coloured bark but is slow growing.

 

Amerlanchier lamarckii is a really good small tree for all round interest - flowers in spring, leaf colour in autumn.

 

I know you said you're not looking evergreen but Photinia Red Robin is a tall red-leaved shrub which will grow to about 4m and would give you a layering effect.

[Ferdinand]

On 07/09/2018 at 21:55, pdf27 said:

deas so far are:

• Half-standard cherry tree (flowers, wildlife and eating)
• Half standard pear tree (flowers and eating)
• Magnolia (flowers)
• Mountain Laurel (flowers)
• Lilac (flowers)
• Rowan (berries, leaves, height without overshading fruit trees behind)

 

Won't most of those (except the Rowan?) take oodles and yonks and decades to reach any sensible blocking height?

 

What about a whitebeam, in the knowledge that it may have to be removed in 2045 as oversized, but will have provided interest until then without too much shade?

 

Or a hazel? Or perhaps a coppiced Eucalyptus, a flowering current, or a bhuddlea as part of the mix?

 

Ferdinand

[vivienz]

+1 for the silver birch but planted amongst dogwood. Cornus mid winter fire would give spectacular winter colour from the stems - they start off vibrant red at the base, go through to orange and then pale yellow at their tips. It really does look like the bush is on fire.

[Jeremy Harris]

We bought some pot-grown tall (4.5 to 5m high above ground level) trees to provide "instant" screening, and they've generally done better than expected.  The olive has really spread out a lot; the bay tree not so much. 

 

The two I'm really pleased with are the tall photinia red robins, though.  They have put on a spurt of new red leaved growth in the past couple of weeks, and combined with the way the mix of wild cherry, field maple and blackthorn has come on, that's planted down the slope  and between the trees and the lane, we now have pretty good screening right in front of the house from ground level up to about 8m or so above the lane.

 

All our trees seem to have eventually done OK this summer.  The ornamental cherry trees are doing really well, as is the whitebeam and the silver birch.  The standard red flowering hawthorns struggled a bit, one not flowering or coming into leaf until July, but they all seem to be coming along well overall.  I need more hedging plants, so will get some more blackthorn, hawthorn and perhaps some hazel and field maples this winter, to fill a few gaps.  Irrigation seems to be key.  The areas I put in automatic watering have done a great deal better than those without.

[Gone West]

Our olive tree which we've had nearly two years now had a dozen or so large olives and near to fifty pea sized ones. I was really surprised to see the blackbird in the tree eating them the other day, he's obviously got exotic tastes. So much for a partridge in a pear tree.

[joe90]

On 17/09/2018 at 16:52, JSHarris said:

Irrigation seems to be key.

 

I don’t have that problem, I can only plant bog plants or they drown ?

[Jeremy Harris]

Thought I'd update this, now we're nearly a year and a half on from planting, with some photos of the way the trees look today: