"prologica" wrote in message
news

I have inherited a garden with a long, deep border, sloping towards the
lawn which features a variety of cypress trees up to 20 ft tall (I
estimate) - I haven't established the exact varieties. I reckon they
were probably planted 12 years or so ago. I do not border a neighbour
on that side but an small, unsightly unworked quarry that needs to be
screened . The border is NW of the rest of my garden so light is not a
problem. The garden is very exposed to winds.

I have 2 questions:
1. I've lost a couple of hefty trunks (most of the trees have more than
one) in high winds in the last couple of years - have I just been
unfortunate? Or should the trees be 'topped' to avoid this, which may
spoil their shape?

2. I have mixed success in establishing other plants in the border.
Some skimmias has been successful and a lavatera and there are euonymus
and philadelphus and some periwinkle(though much of the periwinkle
failed to regenerate after serious weeding) which was present already.
We garden on sandy soil and that border is often dry. I want to know if
it is worth spending the time and money on soil improvement/irrigation
to grow a wider variety of plants in front of the cypresses or must I
just stick to drought tolerant plants?

(Originally posted as reply to Lleylandii hedge thread...but I think
people had lost interest on that one!...)

Thanks
David


--
prologica


IMHE ............sandy soils and the last few years have been a nightmare
despite tons of compost
In a border backed by conifers the problem can be even worse

Choisya, philadelphus,weigela, hebes , mahonia japonica ,all seem to survive
OK as do some other shrubs
Delphiniums ,penstemons, and peonies all seem to like the conditions too but
many other plants curl up their toes