Please recommend a hedge

Tuxman1

Hello,

Looking for a hedge for our garden and a bit overwhelmed by the choice and options.

Ideally we would want it 5ft-ish within 2-3 years. Would like to plant it 50cm type height so we don't alarm the neighbours to much initially with a sudden, massive screening! They have some young kids next door so also need to avoid any poisonous berries or fruits etc.

Box looks really nice but is too slow to grow and expensive by the looks of things.

Budget is around £150 for 8-10 metres of coverage. Any suggestions welcome, Thankyou :-)

Davesnave

I'd go for beech, either purple or green or mixed. It will hold on to its leaves in winter and do what you want in, say, 4 years. You are cutting it a bit fine for bare root now.

I'd also not worry too much about what the neighbours think. You wait until those kids have a trampoline; then you'll wish you'd planted leylandii!

Tuxman1

Can i not plant a hedge at any time of the year? Was looking to do it within the next 2 months. Could do with some fast growth to get it a nice big height in 2 years or so.

Thanks for your reply

Davesnave

Bare root plants, which are cheapest, finish around now:

http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/Index_Hedging__Trees__Shrubs___Conifers_1.html

Pot grown, anytime, but pricey!

kippers

I think Beech too as it holds it's leaves in winter and looks likes a 'copper' hedge. Bare root plants are definately cheaper and can be bought in bulk on the internet. The Latin name is 'Fagus sylvatica' which will help when you are searching the internet.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Maybe add a few rambling plants for interest, scent and to increase density? I saw a 20 pack of Rosa Rugosa in the garden centre today - lovely flowers in June, prickles to deter invaders, safe nesting for birds and lovely red hips for winter - or honeysuckle - beautiful scent and again, nesting space, if thorns are a step too far?

Rummer

Not sure that I can give a great deal of advice other than to look at what kinds of hedges people in your area have that are growing well. We spent a small fortune on hedge plants to section off a bit of our garden and it has not taken to our soil at all. What we have had to do is take cuttings of our existing hedge and grow them up.

Steel_2

I've seen some lovely hedges of Photinia, which is evergreen with red tips of new growth. They grow quite quickly and only get to about 5-6ft. They look great all year.

Have a search on google images for "Photinia Hedge" and you'll see what I mean. Some people close clip them very neatly, others leave them generally unclipped and a little shaggy.

And because they are considered shrubs they are generally inexpensive, although garden centres may charge more for those that have been initially trained and pruned specifically to be used as hedges.

Welsh_Totster

We have a lovely 6ft beech hedge in our back garden between us and a neighbour, its really quite neat and as others have said it keeps its lovely coppery leaves through the winter giving colour and seclusion all year round. Id recommend beech

Orange_King

Look out for for Escalonia which is quite easy to grow and also to take clippings from. These add some nice colour to the garden.