Instant hedging

[Frod]

At the start of the year I removed approx. 55m of conifer hedge for a customer and now they have come back to me wanting me to source and plant a new hedge to surround their garden. 

 

They are wanting something around the 1m height mark - I was thinking along the lines of Beech, Laurel or mixed native but is there anything else I might have missed? For ease I had looked at the trough grown plants but then potted plants are cheaper - if I use the mini excavator to dig a trench, planting either is fine.

 

How well would a Beech hedge react to being trimmed with a tractor flail as I can imagine thats how one side will be maintained over time?

 

I've been in discussions with my local nursery about it and although they have been useful, more advise is always good. They have given me a couple of contacts to get plants from but does anyone else have any good recommendations for buying this no. of bulk plants?

[Guest Gimlet]

It's going to be costly wherever you source them. I have a similar job pending. A customer has a Thuja hedge that has been trimmed too hard and some of it has died. He wants to replace it with something fairly fast growing and evergreen but non-coniferous. It's an exposed part of his garden and it backs onto a field so like yours it will get flailed on the farmer's side. 

 

I've suggested Portuguese laurel or Pyracantha red column. The Pyracantha has the advantage that it is vigorous and bushy enough right down to the ground that it doesn't need to be planted in a double row, making it cheaper. Pyracantha won't get eaten by livestock either because it's too spiny.

 

In my case the neighbouring field is arable but if it's pasture Portuguese Laurel wouldn't be suitable because it's toxic to livestock. 

 

 

[monkeybusiness]

I’d recommend hornbeam - looks very similar to beech/holds onto its leaves in winter when kept as a hedge etc, and is tolerant of poor soil (often found where coniferous hedges have been removed). It grows faster than beech too - we’ve had great success with it over the years in exactly your application.

Our trees come from Prees Heath Forest Nurseries near Whitchurch -  01948 841353. Everything native is grown on site from UK sourced seed, no imported crap, and they are solely a trade nursery so their prices are excellent. 

I’d be hanging fire for a few weeks and sourcing bare root trees tbh, they will be significantly cheaper!

(Edit - and you can flail the bejesus out of hornbeam, it seems to love it!)

Edited September 30, 2019 by monkeybusiness

[Guest Gimlet]

Don't want to hijack here but how quickly will hornbeam form a decent hedge? My client has ruled out beech on the grounds that he wants a hedge for shelter and privacy and he's sixty years old now.

 

I've laid hornbeam a few times and it does regrow very well and bushes up nicely. More so than beech I would say. 

 

Edit:

I had a huge beech hedge at my old house. It was six feet thick, at least (a Stihl long reach trimmer wouldn't reach the other side) and ten feet tall. I found it retained it's leaves best if cut once in August. If I cut it later or too close to a frost leaf retention wasn't reliable. Can you be sure the farmer next door won't flail the leaves off it in the middle of winter..?

Edited September 30, 2019 by Gimlet

[monkeybusiness]

6 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

How quickly will hornbeam form a decent hedge? My client has ruled out beech on the grounds that he wants a hedge for shelter and privacy and he's sixty years old now.

 

I've laid hornbeam a few times and it does regrow very well and bushes up nicely. More so than beech I would say. 

 

Edit:

I had a huge beech hedge at my old house. It was 6' thick and ten feet tall. I found it retained it's leaves best if cut once in August. If I cut it later or too close to a frost leaf retention wasn't as good. Can you rely on the farmer next door not to flail the leaves off it in the middle of winter..?

Depends how big it is when you put it in! Bare root trees of a decent size are relatively inexpensive when compared to the alternatives, and in my experience will grow as fast as similar sized laurel/faster than just about anything else (particularly if in the sun). 

We've had no issues with winter leaf loss either, however it is treated. And it provides more habitat value than laurel. And it isn’t laurel!...

[gary112]

A nice mix of native hedging layed in a few years and could then be kept trimmed to whatever height customer wants

[Frod]

4 hours ago, Gimlet said:

Don't want to hijack here but how quickly will hornbeam form a decent hedge? My client has ruled out beech on the grounds that he wants a hedge for shelter and privacy and he's sixty years old now.

 

I've laid hornbeam a few times and it does regrow very well and bushes up nicely. More so than beech I would say. 

 

Edit:

I had a huge beech hedge at my old house. It was six feet thick, at least (a Stihl long reach trimmer wouldn't reach the other side) and ten feet tall. I found it retained it's leaves best if cut once in August. If I cut it later or too close to a frost leaf retention wasn't reliable. Can you be sure the farmer next door won't flail the leaves off it in the middle of winter..?

Similar to you, my client is in her 60s and wanted the hedge to be 'fully grown' now rather than wait 15 years to achieve the same results. Thats why I had thought about the container/trough grown instant hedge but for the quantity, your looking at 3 times the price hence looking at alternatives!

 

I won't be planting until November at the earliest so bare root seems like a good option and if hornbeam isn't adverse to an annual flailing at the start of the year, it could be a winner. Planting up some 120-150 stems at 4 per meter should give a pretty good screen come next summer. 

[dumper]

I put a hornbeam hedge in laid the 120/150 bare root at 30 degrees bushed up top to bottom in three years, laid irrigation pipe in bottom and mulched with well rotted manure 

[monkeybusiness]

If you get in early there’s a good chance the commercial nurseries will have some really tall bare root stock - it often sells fast though...

[nepia]

5 hours ago, Gimlet said:

He wants to replace it with something fairly fast growing and evergreen but non-coniferous. It's an exposed part of his garden and it backs onto a field so like yours it will get flailed on the farmer's side. 

 

 

 

 

Cotoneaster, Eleagnus, even bloody Lonicera nitidans, Privet, Holly, Euonymus...  Give the wildlife a chance so not Laurel!

Edited September 30, 2019 by nepia