In article ,
David Rance wrote:

On Wed, 22 Jul 2020 14:29:29 The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 22/07/2020 12:02, john west wrote:
Someone we know if having to install a hedge due to neighbouring
developments some 50 metres long and they want it to be eventually six
feet tall.
Getting on in years they need it to be essentially minimum maintenance.
They have been told Laurel doesn't look good if cut down with hedge
cutters as a lot of leaves don't go brown after being cut in half.
They have also be told leylandi type conifers don't grow around dead
patches so that could be a problem?
Grateful for any suggestions please.

Yew is really good, once a year cut handles it, its dense and its
evergreen, but the downside of any low maintenance hedge is that it
will be slow growing...I've tried box, holly, yew...yew remains my
favourite evergreen and grows faster than the others. Bay also grows
quite fast but its very big leaves.

I hate privet.

Deciduous wise? - well beech or hornbeam?. Hornbeam stands wet soggy
clay better, beech looks nicer

I have a long hornbeam hedge. It looks nice and is quite fast growing
and dense.

My 2p: Beech (I don't know about hornbeam). Looks good, grows fast
enough, once over 2 feet or so, and *stays as a hedge during winter*,
only shedding its now-brown leaves just before leafing out next Spring.
Takes *a lot* of punishment, growing back quick and green. It only needs
cutting once a year (for me: June/July).

Someone-you-know "is getting on"? What does that mean? If you are 40,
you probably think "getting on" is 60 --- which is virtually Spring
Chicken compared to 70, let me tell you :-( 6 foot is plenty high
enough for a hedge -- anything over spells very, very hard work. (Unless
they pay someone else to keep it trimmed.)

In this case I would buy as big beech saplings as I could afford and
plant them in a very well prepared trench, to give maximum comfort for
the roots. It will take a couple of years (or more) for it to look like
a hedge, unless the someone-you-know is well-off and can afford potted
saplings which are a reasonable height when planted. You need to cut
the tops off each year to encourage side-growth. Later, you need to be
very severe with the tops, because they will have become thick and
gnarled: you want young, thin growth.

FWIW my front hedge is mixed: beech, hazel, and blackthorn; with some
honeysuckle. They all look good, the hazel gets a few nits (for
delight), the blackthorn produces blossom in early Spring, and then
sloes in Autumn. However Blackthorn is not also called QuickThorn for
nothing: it sends suckers out wherever it can: we regularly have shoots
appearing in the flower beds 3 metres beyond the hedge.

Finally: NOT holly! It looks wonderful to anyone who does not have to
keep it under control. It's an absolute ******* to cut. (Good for
keeping people out, mind).

Oh: and NOT laurel: give it an inch and it will take a mile: turn your
back on it one year, and it will be 4 metres tall before you know.


Sorry: that was hardly 2p, was it?

Cheers
John