Instant hedge

[Stereo]

I've just acquired a small bit of land bordering a country lane. It's a way from my home and I want to put some breeding chickens on it as a mini enterprise. The road hedge is fairly high from the road (6' most places) but is easy to scramble over. So, the first thing is a good strong fence but around here a few folk have had flocks stolen and my birds are worth a few quid. It's impossible to keep cockerels quiet so I can't stop people hearing them but that may arouse interest and if anyone knows their stuff, they might look over the hedge and see a good few hundred quids worth of birds ready to pinch. It's not so much the value to me, it's the time to build good flocks up again.

 

Anyway, I think I'll be putting the hens there in late 2015 so was wondering what was the best way of getting an evergreen, thick hedge in there quick so people can't see in. A few thorns wouldn't go amiss either. Something difficult to scramble through. I can lay the top of the hedge and let it grow up as that's all syc / hazel / ash etc. but it won't do the job in the winter. I need a second barrier. I need to do about 100m of hedge. Any ideas which don't cost an arm and a leg?

[daltontrees]

Leylandii plus a 'dead hedge' of Hawthorn and if you stick a few cuttings of live hawthorn in in the spring they will probably take and replace the dead hedge with bristling thorns in no time. Pyracantha's fairly vicious and quick to run riot too. Longer term better quality is Yew, grows reasonably quickly to start withtne settles in for the next 1000 years of slow growth. Poisonous to animals though, so keep it on the outside face.

[Mark Bolam]

What's the soil like?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[Stereo]

Where would I source a dead hedge of hawthorne do you reckon? Soil is light clay. Typical Devon red soil really.

[daltontrees]

Where would I source a dead hedge of hawthorne do you reckon? Soil is light clay. Typical Devon red soil really.

 

Just chop down a few unwanted Hawthorn stems and shove them in butt first to the hilt into your existing hedge. They will be a hideous deterrent.

[matt_uk]

They will be a hideous deterrent.

Very well put...

 

I'll back up the vote on the mix of Hawthorn and Pyracantha ... NO ONE will try and go through the stuff without a suit of armour!

 

Having had personal experience of the combination as a rather worse for wear teenager many years ago (not such a good short cut as it turned out) which resulted in my mam screaming that I'd been hit by a car... I still bear a couple of scars from that ... thank buggery I was sozzled she covered me in TCP!

[headgroundsman]

if there is a hedge laying comp nearby I am sure they would let you clear away some of the trimmings. Have you ever seen the huge pile left over?

[Goaty]

There is wild rose you could plant and thread through it. Personally I hate the stuff. But cheap enough to buy bareroot. Rampant growth. Couple of strands of barb wire through the hedge or tight into the side of it then hedge will grow round it.

 

Im telling you to do all the things I hate!!!

[sandspider]

Pyracantha grows well - almost too well. I have one that I ritually hack back each year or so, and by the next year it's 6 foot high and attacking me as I walk past again! More of a spindly bush than a hedge, but that's probably because it's a single plant and I don't prune it into a hedge shape at all. Spiky bastard though, and quite pretty flowers and berries.

[codlasher]

Personally I hate landi hedges. Sterile and boring spring to mind. If it is your piece of ground just make the effort to plant a nice hedgerow with colour and using a broad typical hedgerow mix interspersed with some standards that can grow on to form a nice part of the skyline.

In my opinion again you will not regret this effort as you will only have to do it once.

codlasher