gasdoctor muttered:


I want to screen an unsighlty fence and add some extra height. After
reading a few posts my lelandii planting has been put on hold.

Hornbeam looks good, especially as you can buy 4ft plants.

The fence is north facing in staffordshire, not sure on the soil (but
its in the Trent valley)

Will it grow adequately, in full shade, how fast will it grow.

If not any suggestions?

Cheers

Buy bare root hornbeam and plant them anytime from now to March - beware of
planting big plants they tend to sit there not growing very much for a few
years, whereas smaller bare root plants develop a good root system and grow
steadily from the start and are much cheaper, it'll take 2-3 years to get a
decent hedge so be patient. Also we found that hornbeam is much less fussy
than beech.