Pleached trees

Freya85

I’m having to cut my fence down to regulations (1 metre high) and I need to put up some form of greenery to make up for the lost height. I have been googling for ideas and love the look of pleached trees but these are going to work out quite expensive. Are there any varieties that are cheaper or can this be done on a DIY basis? Also the varieties I have been looking at are quite tall I want the overall height to be around 2 metres and the foliage to be at least a metre high( so the trunk will be 1 metre) 

Davesnave

Many trees can be pleached, but maintaining a clear stem of 1m under a canopy of 1m is going to mean quite a lot of upkeep.

When one of our commercial neighbours began sending bindweed through our young hornbeam hedge, I used pleaching to get at the weeds chemically without affecting the hornbeam, but it was time consuming getting rid of the lower branches and then keeping the stems clear so I could spray, as and when.

It worked though, and now I'm able to let the hornbeam grow naturally again.

I'd think Cotoneaster cornubia would make a good pleached hedge. Evergreen and easy to shape, with no thorns. My Dad kept a tame single tree for years and it looked like a lollipop, never getting any larger. All right if you like the physically constrained look, I suppose.

Instead of trees which want to grow naturally large, you could look at shrubs, but beware of those that might throw up suckers, like privet.

twopenny

If you want an instant effect what about using espaliers. A nursery especially one dealing in hedging and trees would do this for you. They would eventually grow together but would be instant barrier, quicker than growing the ordinary way and cheaper than pleached.