"shannie" wrote in message
Please excuse the fairly long posting. Come Autumn I hope to dig up some
old
and very tired shrubs in the front garden. The bed I want to redo is along
a
wall, the wall is only about 2ft high and about 15ft long and just over
the
wall is a new oil tank standing 6ft high. Coming up the gardens towards
this
tank is a howling northern gale, there are leylandii 40ft or so from this
but beyond is just fields as far as the eye can see and you can imagine,
they are a good break but not wonderful. I'd like to put some kind of
living
screen in this bed, something that will grow to about 6/7ft. Not
leylandii....the middle of the garden is fine for them but not the front
garden. What could I plant that will take the brunt of a north wind on one
side, the heat of the southern sun on the other and won't undermine the
oil
tank?? I had considered bamboo but someone told me it had to be cut down,
I'd prefer something permanent, fairly fast growning as Im sick of looking
at the oil tank everytime I pull into the driveway Oh one other thing,
I
can't put in trellis as the foundations of the wall are a mess, whoever
put
it in left no room on the north side for planting and the wall's not high
enough to support it with the winds etc.


I think it's called "Italian Alder" and it can be pruned back to a good
shape, quite thin, and still provide a good wind break. A bit like a Beech
Hedge but much better. They have some in the fruit fields at RHS Wisley.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.