Recommend a Plant/bush as windbreak

baggins11

I am looking for a plant/bush that I can use as a hedge to provide privacy and windbreak for my veg garden.

I have a chicken wire fence around the plot but it is very exposed and on a slope down to the road so I would like an additional windbreak and also a bit of privacy from the road.

Whatever I plant would be on a windy site on fairly heavy clay soil. Ideally I would like something that would be useful as a filler for cut flowers or ornamental in its own right. What would you recommend?

Also where would I plant it -right by the fence line or would I be better with a gap between the rabbit fencing and the windbreak so I can run a mower down in between?

I was thinking of bush roses but I imagine that would be expensive over a long stretch of hedge. Space isn't an issue and I don't mind if I have to have gaps for a while as they grow - It doesn't need to be an immediate hedge.

Farway

Beech maybe? Native and provides everything plus wildlife friendly

Davesnave

Farway wrote: »

Beech maybe? Native and provides everything plus wildlife friendly

On heavy, wet clay, hornbeam may do the job better and I can vouch for it growing fast. We put in a 50' hedge in 2014 and it would be 8' high now if I'd let it go unchecked.

Holds its leaves all winter like beech.

Unfortunately for baggins, being a veggie gardener, he's only just come out of hibernation, while we ornamentalists (or is that just mentalists? :huh:) have been dealing with our hedges since last November and finished all pruning, laying, planting etc. You see, when it comes to planting, bare root plants cost a mere fraction of the price of those in pots!

Sadly, the season for bare root is almost over. I see Hedge Nursery still have bare root on their web site, but this is a big decision and baggins may well want time to consider other options, especially as I haven't looked at this from a decorative/flowering POV.

Whatever is chosen, I'd keep it away from the rabbit fence. Once you have a hedge there you'll want to use something to keep it trimmed and bushy and any sort of cutting device won't mix well with the wire.

baggins11

LOL Davesnave, I wish hibernation was an option. I work outdoors all year round so no chance of that. Oh and Baggins is a she

We only moved to our new place late autumn and I have created the new veg plot from scratch so I am only thinking of the hedge now I have the plot and fence up. Plus I had over 200ft of established hedge to maintain (15ft high!) and more pressing matters in the house over the winter.

I will have a look at your suggestions but I might be better off leaving it until next winter now and taking time to decide what to do.

I really can't decide how to divide our land up and don't want to get it wrong. We will probably get pigs, chickens and ducks and an orchard so I guess the location of all this might have a bearing on the windbreak.

Davesnave

baggins11 wrote: »

LOL Davesnave, I wish hibernation was an option. I work outdoors all year round so no chance of that. Oh and Baggins is a she

Yes, apologies . Now I think about it, you were here well before the clocks went forward, so it was unfair of me to label you a fair weather gardener.

Most who come here are, though. It happens every year; people arrive around Easter and start asking about hedge and tree planting, when they would have saved £££ thinking about it at the proper time - hence the bit in red. But you know all that....sorry!

I think it's very sensible not to rush into the dividing-up the land bit. We were somewhat constrained by the previous owner's weird decisions, but after a year we realised there was nothing for it but to get a big digger in for the parts we just couldn't live with. We still got some things wrong. Correction takes years.

Up on our road hedge, I've been renovating 50m a winter, which is about all I can manage and it gives the animals time to adapt. In there, I have honeysuckle and dog roses and I've planted a few more natives to increase variety, like guelder rose, alder buckthorn, spindle and Scotch roses. I suppose that could be done in any new hedge too to mke it more interesting.

baggins11

Davesnave do you have any top tips or things to avoid with regards dividing the land. Most things I read seem to go on the basis of put the things that need the most attention closest to the house.

Apodemus

If you are planting a wind-break hedge on the downhill side of a veg plot, it might be worth leaving some gaps at ground level to avoid creating a frost pocket, where the cold air runs down the slope and gets trapped by the hedge.

Davesnave

baggins11 wrote: »

Davesnave do you have any top tips or things to avoid with regards dividing the land. Most things I read seem to go on the basis of put the things that need the most attention closest to the house.

I'd say that's generally right, though feed storage isn't always house-based, so our chickens are closer to the barn. I don't believe they would be much safer nearer the house, as the only thing that works effectively against predators is really good fencing.

Also, if feed is going to attract rats, the feeding troughs etc are better at some distance too, though we've never had a problem. We only have sheep & hens and the feed bins are rodent-proof.

I think personal bias comes into it as well. Being ornamental gardeners first, the area close to the house is reserved for 'pretty' stuff!

baggins11

Good point apodemus, I had also read if the hedge is too solid wind can whip up and drop down the other side so its best to use hedging that blocks some but not all the wind.

Thanks Davesnave I was thinking along those lines. We already have a outbuilding which is a rat den (another job on the list) so I had thought about having the chickens and feed not too close to the house.

We have had chickens before and used a treadle feeder which was great at preventing ratty getting the food but our neighbours here have chickens and I think that is where the rats are finding food.