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******JohnQ******
"nick gray" wrote in message
...

"JohnQ" wrote in message
...
I have a deciduous hedge (unsure of type I'm afraid) which is about four
feet tall and comprised of roughly thirty or so plants round the edge of
my
front garden. The stems of these plants are up to two inches across
which
means there is a lot of stem/branch but not a great deal of leaves so
they
look thin and scraggy. We have only been here about a year and it seems
that the hedge hasn't been looked after properly.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to thicken it up? If I planted box
(or
similar) inbetween what is there already would it help, or would it just
look messy?

All advice gratefully acknowledged.

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******JohnQ******

Hi John,

Without knowing what type of hedge it's difficult to give detailed
information (post a picture on the web somewhere and give us the URL, I'm
sure someone will be able to identify it, try to post a picture when the
hedge is in leaf). With most hedge types regular pruning, shaping and
feeding will encourage the thickening up of the foliage.

Box is pretty slow growing, and if you were to plant 4ft specimens it
would
cost you a fortune. It's probably best to find out what you've got growing
at the moment and then come back here to get suggestions for companion
hedging plants.

HTH

Nick
www.ukgardening.co.uk


Nick - thanks for your reply. I believe that I have hornbeam mainly - and
this is what is too thin, but I also have holly dotted around the place and
in one bit I have Forsythia (which is doing very well, thank you). The
hornbeam kept its brown leaves all winter but is really looking a bit
emaciated just now. Hope this helps.