On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:21:23 GMT, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

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from contains these words:

I am thinking of planting a 6 foot high fedge around the perimeter of
our garden, to act as a wind break. There's already a low (3 or four
feet high) dry stone wall all the way around, behind which I'd like to
insall the fedge. How close to wall can I plant the fedge? - I want to
avoid the possibility of the roots of the fedge eventually causing the
wall to become unstable.
Factors:
a) I am very short of space, and want to get as close to the wall as
possible
b) The soil is not to heavy, not too light, and although we get plenty
rain (west coast of Scotland), it is not water-logged.

Hm, not sure I'd pick willow. Partly because of the threat to the
wall, but also because willows in west Scotland tend to be very prone to
fungal disease. You don't see a mature willow often here. When I planted
them as a wind-shield nurse-crop for trees at our last place, by the
time I came to take out the willow it was mostly dead anyway (the other
trees survived and thrived). Also, a willow fedge is pretty high
maintenance (close-pruning and weaving, both sides), and you haven't got
much room to get in and do that.

Why not try griselinia littoralis? It's fast, and has the advantage
of being evergreen. Handsome foliage.The roots are very shallow so less
likely to bother the wall.
It will need regular pruning once a year. We live on a cliff top and
have two griselinia windbreak hedges. The new one, is 2 years old, 3 ft
high and bushy. Now the roots are established it will easily reash 5 or
6 ft next year and be stopped. The old one is being restrained to 6ft
high and 18 inches thick, you can stand in its lee in a 70 mph breeze
and not feel a draught. They take ANY amount of savage pruning in their
stride.

Slower, evergreen, fragrant, and flowery, would be escallonia.

Both escallonia and griselinia thrive in coastal gardens, make great
windbreaks, and propagate easily from cuttings (free, from anyone you
know who has them).

The OP might also consider Olearia traversii and Eleagnus ebbingei,
both good hedgers for mild coastal exposure and quick growing, the
latter having tiny heavily scented white flowers in early autumn.
Don't know about the root systems though, but I would guess no worse
than griselinia or escallonia. I have Eleagnus planted close to a
Cornish wall; they're four years old, pushing 6ft now despite being
regularly topped, and grow at least 2ft per year. Time will tell if
they are going to undermine the wall, but left unattended they can get
tallish, say 20ft.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net