On 03/12/17 08:48, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 2 Dec 2017 12:23:53 +0000, Tim Watts
wrote:

Hi,

Got an old hawthorn hedge and I hate it - it's manky, bare in winter and
horrid to trim. So it's going. I'll keep one in tree form as it needs no
maintenance work.

I was mooting the idea of a silver beech hedge, but as I have 4 or so
self seeded holly bushes (plus a tree) I thought it would be nice to
keep the theme. Holly is not as objectionable as hawthorne, it's
evergreen, the berries are cute and it's easy to trim.


We're on heavy clay, but the hedge is on higher ground. Current holly is
"standard English dark green with red berries and pointy leaves" - no
idea which sub species.

So I was wondering if I could add some other types of holly for variety
- different colours, styles?

The real questions a

1) If standard English green is happy, then will all varieties likely be
happy with the clay? This is south and west facing - plenty of light on
one side at least.

Many hollies available are varieties of the common holly, Ilex
aquifolium, so should do as well. They will grow on clay, but not if
it's waterlogged. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=6332

Some interesting varieties he
http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants...llies-to-grow/
If you want lots of berries, get female varieties but have at least
one male among them for pollination, otherwise no berries! Be aware
that the names are misleading; Silver Queen is male, Golden King is
female!

2) Roots. Have a sewer about 3-4 foot down under the hedge. The
hawthorne got into it and Southern Water had to come and fix it. I
promised to remove that particular hawthorn plant at the least.

How deep to holly roots go?

No idea. A big tree will probably put down quite deep roots
eventually, but that would take many decades (they live for centuries,
potentially). I wouldn't worry too much about it.

3) Side question - I'll pay a tree surgeon to chainsaw and mince the old
hedge. It's going to be hard to remove some 25-30 stumps (about 3-4"
wide at most). If I add stump killer, am I likely to be able to get away
with planting the holly in between?

Drill two or three half-inch holes, say three inches down into the
stumps; fill the holes with 'compost accelerator' (aka 'Root Out',
ammonium sulphamate, https://tinyurl.com/y7btjaqy ), cover with a
slate, flower pot or poly bag, to keep the rain out, and that will
kill the stumps without poisoning the soil. Ammonium sulphamate slowly
breaks down in the soil over a few weeks anyway, so any that gets into
the soil, either spilled or diffused out from the dead hawthorn roots,
won't hang around for long.


Many many thanks

Tim


Brilliant - thanks Chris!