Trees for a border screen

[barkNmad]

I am trying to get a row of trees planted as a screen and am looking for ideas on how to approach this.

 

I have an area about 5 meters long. It is 1.2 meters wide at one end and 2.7 meters wide at the other end. the usable area would be slightly less because one side is a public path, so the planting area would be more like 0.6 meters at one end and 2.1 meters at the other end, which i know is narrow, but maybe i could prune the bottom back to make room for the path and the fence?

 

I ideally want the screen to start at around 8-9ft high or more when it is planted, and grow to at least 12ft+ over time.
I am looking for an evergreen or something that will provide cover all year. There is a 6ft fence on one side and a public path on the other, which does make it a tight squeeze, but i don't mind if it eventually destroys the fence once it has filled out.

 

The area is usually in the shade, but gets a couple of hours direct sun. I think it would have to start higher than the 6 foot fence so it gets enough light to grow. Or is there something i can plant that will not require direct sun?

 

I have no idea what species would be best, maybe even bamboo?
Ideally i want a company to do it but i think it might cost more than i can afford so i will probably have to do the work myself. Does anybody have an idea of what this might cost for a company to do this in south west UK?

 

I have included a picture of the area. basically i need a 12ft wall that will block the view all year round. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you

[Mick Dempsey]

Never bamboo!

a mixture of Red Robin, elaeagnus (sp) and laurel, might work.

[barkNmad]

30 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Never bamboo!

a mixture of Red Robin, elaeagnus (sp) and laurel, might work.

Thank you for the reply.
I did read that bamboo can be invasive, i guess that's why you say never bamboo?
Also, what do you mean by a mixture? do you mean plant each one next to each other in a row? or choose one? there is very little space to do more than one tree deep so i don't think i would fit more than one in the line of sight.

Thanks

[Mick Dempsey]

Yes a mixture of the three, they’re  hedging shrubs so you can fit them in and trim regularly. 

[barkNmad]

28 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Yes a mixture of the three, they’re  hedging shrubs so you can fit them in and trim regularly. 

Thank you so much! I will look into those

[Mark Bolam]

You can’t have a public path 600mm wide.

[Mark Bolam]

Sorry, I see you mean the hedge face would end at the public path, my bad.

 

Like Mick says, definitely not bamboo!

[sime42]

I'd add Pittosporum, Privet and Yew to the list. 

 

There are some well behaved, "clumping" type bamboos as well as the invasive stuff BTW. 

[Peewit]

Hornbeam is a good option. Thrives in most conditions, isn't evergreen but retains it's spent leaves through winter almost as reliably as beech but grows much faster.

 

Not a fan of privet as it's boring, ecologically almost sterile., strips vast amounts of nutrients from the soil so little else will thrive in its vicinity and it isn't reliably evergreen.

 

Viburnum Tinus makes a good screening species. It's evergreen, a naturalised adoptive species, dense, vigorous and has fragrant flowers and berries loved by birds. 

 

Edited April 28 by Peewit

[green heart]

There are some solid recommendations above. 

 

Common Holly makes a dense and prickly boundary hedge, plant some small ones now, and they'll be 4' high when the fence starts to fall apart ?

Even though I hate it, I'd add Laurel -plain or variegated leaf.

Similarly Thuja -and not cypress !

 

If you are determined to grow the hedge/screen 12' high (I can never understand householders obsessions with excessively tall Hedges 🙄), then you will also need to budget for some suitable stepladders and long-reach hedge cutters. Or pay some poor soul to cut it for you every year ££ ??

 

 

Edited April 29 by green heart
Afterthought!

[Peewit]

23 minutes ago, green heart said:

If you are determined to grow the hedge/screen 12' high (I can never understand householders obsessions with excessively tall Hedges 🙄), then you will also need to budget for some suitable stepladders and long-reach hedge cutters. Or pay some poor soul to cut it for you every year ££ ??

 

 

I have this debate frequently with prospective hedge laying customers. They fret that reducing their 12 foot hedge to 3 or 4 foot will cost them their privacy. I have to point out that for privacy you need density, not height, and you need it in the right place. It's no good having dense leaf cover 6 feet off the ground when head height for pedestrians and traffic on the other side is only 4 feet with bare lower stems that they can look straight through. Plus a laid native hedge will put on vigorous growth rapidly.

 

If you plant a species that responds well to clipping and will stay leafy all the way to the ground without laying, then as you say, assiduous clipping is vital and the hedge must be maintained so it is wider at the bottom than the top so that light can get to the base and keep the leaf growth going. That can be an awful lot of work on a tall hedge. 

You need to look at where above ground level any outside intrusion will be and maintain the hedge a foot or two above that. Any extra height is just hard work for no benefit and could excessively shade the garden.