Growing hedge near fence, problems?

Leif

I have fences on two sides of my garden, and they are not tall enough for privacy. According to the deeds I am responsible for them. I am tempted to grow hedges along them. Anyone had problems with this, given that boundaries are notoriously hard to prove accurately, and an unscrupulous neighbour (perhaps someone who moves in) could subsequently claim the fence is on their side, and the hedge is the boundary?

As an aside, my late mother had problems with a neighbour and a boundary. They were absolute pigs to her, and moved the fence while the house was being sold after her death.

fluffymuffy

If they're your fences you can nail some trellis to the top and grow some climbers on them. It would be like a hedge but with no risk that someone will take the fence down and claim your new hedge is the boundary. Mile-a-Minutes grows very fast.

Suzy_M

Leif wrote: »

I am tempted to grow hedges along them.

How are you going to prune the other side of the hedges? Fences won't contain them and you may have to deal with damage to the fences when they get overgrown.

Also fast-growing = need a lot of pruning

Chimpofdoom

Suzy_M wrote: »

How are you going to prune the other side of the hedges? Fences won't contain them and you may have to deal with damage to the fences when they get overgrown.

Also fast-growing = need a lot of pruning

Yup have this problem with neighbours on the other side of my fence. They were reasonably small 5 years ago.. now they are competing in height with a tree that's been there for a LOT longer.

Also the sods prune their side, but never come to mine... *grumble grumble*

krlyr

Chimpofdoom wrote: »

Yup have this problem with neighbours on the other side of my fence. They were reasonably small 5 years ago.. now they are competing in height with a tree that's been there for a LOT longer.

Also the sods prune their side, but never come to mine... *grumble grumble*

I believe you're allowed to prune anything that's growing on your side, provided you return it (so chuck the branches back over their fence, though make sure you don't damage anything). If you do a poor job of pruning they may be a bit quicker to offer to do your side too!

Leif

Suzy_M wrote: »

How are you going to prune the other side of the hedges? Fences won't contain them and you may have to deal with damage to the fences when they get overgrown.

Also fast-growing = need a lot of pruning

My assumption is that if I plant privet one foot from the fence, it will not push the fence back, the fence will train it, but it will intrude into the neighbours garden when it reaches the top. Or am I mistaken? I have a huge Wiegela very close to the fence, and it has not damaged the fence. There is something similar too, which is inches from the fence, and has not damaged it.

Leif

fluffymuffy wrote: »

If they're your fences you can nail some trellis to the top and grow some climbers on them. It would be like a hedge but with no risk that someone will take the fence down and claim your new hedge is the boundary. Mile-a-Minutes grows very fast.

I was wondering about that for one fence. Apparently the cost was shared with the neighbour, so I'd have to talk with them, be nice and neighbourly etc. The other is more troublesome. That neighbour said the fences were unadopted so the owners adopted them in the 70's or whenever. All very odd as they are marked as mine on the deeds. Erecting trellis on my side, not touching the fence is a solution I guess. Easily removed if need be.

I'd not heard of Mile A Minute. Thanks.

mrschaucer

PLEASE don't use that awful Mile a Minute stuff - stand still for 5 minutes and it will suffocate you. Post on the gardening thread for ideas if you get stuck?

Suzy_M

Leif wrote: »

My assumption is that if I plant privet one foot from the fence, it will not push the fence back, the fence will train it, but it will intrude into the neighbours garden when it reaches the top. Or am I mistaken? I have a huge Wiegela very close to the fence, and it has not damaged the fence. There is something similar too, which is inches from the fence, and has not damaged it.

Wigelia and privet have different growth habits. Wigelia is soft, leggy and whippy whilst privet is stiffer, denser and harder. So the fence won't train the privet, the privet will train the fence.

We have privet hedges within our garden (well away from any boundaries). The depth of them ranges from 1 foot to 3 foot. The one foot depth can only be maintained by cutting back BOTH SIDES hard once a year.

As regards damage to fences - have a good look around. You will see many fences that are being pushed out of line by hedges - a two foot deep privet hedge is strong enough to support my falling weight without a branch out of place! You won't be able to readily access the fence for maintenance and if the posts require attention you'll be dealing with a rats nest of roots.

It also requires a lot of discipline to maintain any hedge and it isn't a quick snip here or there job. Also, unless you've got the space to waste hedges draw practically all the moisture and nutrients from the soil below it to a distance roughly equivalent to its' height - and if it causes shade on a lawn you'll just be growing moss.

It doesn't sound like it but I do like hedges but only as a boundary to define areas within a garden or on the road frontage, and are easily accessible from all sides, the top can be trimmed safely without a qualification in circus skills and I don't need the ground in their shadow.

Leif

Thanks Suzy M, lots of useful information there. So, Privet is out then.:) I have a nice Camellia which is only 2 foot tall, but I am tempted to plant it near one fence, between the Wiegela and the unknown shrub, along with something else to plug the gap. After what you say, I will look into a Winter Jasmine for the fence with a trellis top, and some smaller shrubs at the base. My late mother had a winter Jasmine along the eaves of her bungalow, gorgeous plant. There is a flowering quince near one fence and it seems okay. I removed some Holly bushes/trees, not ideal close to a fence

Suzy_M

I forgot my grandparents solution for maintaining privacy - if you have the space (and the money of course) -

A 6 foot high trellis 'fence' about 18 inches from the fence using proper fence posts and heavy duty trellis. The gap behind keeps the plants off the fences and is enough room for them to get behind and prune any wayward shoots heading for the fence. This stops the fence getting damaged by the plants and still leaves enough room for fence maintenance and repair (their responsibility). It also disguises butt ugly fence panels! - and acts as a windbreak protecting the fence.

It's planted up with a variety of climbers - the only proviso being that they are winter-pruned which gives them privacy during the growing season (when it's most needed). In the spring new growth is tied in and trained to grow straight up for two feet and then at an angle up to the top. This provides dense foliage at eye level but light can get to the space underneath to grow other plants. To promote early growth they liquid feed late winter to early spring before the nosy neighbour comes out of hibernation.

Some of the climbers they have are Akebia (Chocalate Vine), Honeysuckle, some type of jasmine, assorted clematis and an Everlasting Sweet Pea.