In message , Chris Hogg
writes
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:59:15 +0000, MDJ
wrote:


Hello,

My name is Malcolm. I am a new gardner and very inexperienced. I live
in NW UK.

I wish to establish a 15 metre row of rhododenron bushes to form a more
or less solid hedge with a height of one to one and half metres to hide
a wooden fence and to encorage wildlife into the gaden. Ideally, I
would like to get a variety of plants to provide alonger flowering
season and a range of different colours. Regrettably, i have a
decidedly alkaline soil. The top soil is about 400 cm in depth. Beneath
that is clay. Any advice would be appreciated.

If you wish to e-mail me at my own address plese do so on


Many thanks

malcolm

The short answer is, not a chance. Find something else to plant.

The longer answer is that you might be OK for a few years if you dig
out a trench, say 1 metre wide by 0.5 metre deep along the 15 metre
length of the proposed hedge, back-fill it with acid peaty soil, and
water your plants regularly with sequestered trace elements. But
whether they will get big enough to be called a hedge before they
start to show serious chlorosis is a moot point.


Alternatively he could construct a raised bed filled with ericaceous
compost, and again water regularly with sequestered trace elements. (At
least Rhododendrons are shallow rooting.) But even if this saves the
plants from the lime,
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley