On Saturday, 2 December 2017 12:23:57 UTC, 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.

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?

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?


Many many thanks

Tim

Felling them like a fairly easy diy job, even without a chainsaw.


NT