Ed wrote:

: On 28/07/08 06:54, Michael Bell wrote:
:: I am new to this house. The garden faces south and along the front is
:: privet hedge 6 ft high and 1 ft thick. I have planted plants just to
:: the north of it which I expected to grow and they have not grown or
:: grown poorly. This has happened so often that I have come to suspect
:: it's the influence of the hedge. Any opinions?
::
:: I live Newcastle on Tyne - I don't know if that's relevant.
::
:: Michael Bell
::
:
: Yes, privet is notoriously well known for starving the soil of
: moisture and nutrients. It's no wonder plants near it are struggling.

How near is "near"? I have a privet hedge on the other side of my fence.
It's quite thick and about 9 feet tall, though only the top 4 or 5 feet is
green, very thick and woody below that. The hedge is north of the fence and
I have some young trees on the south side of the fence - about 3 feet away
from the hedge.

They've all been replanted there this year, a 3 year old silver birch, a 1
year old horse-chesnut and a 1 year old hornbeam. SIL says that they might
not do much this year anyway because of the move. They aren't dying, just
don't seem to be doing much at all - I thought the silver birch might have
grown more than 80mm in 40 days since it was planted.

Two Eucs got off to a terrible start but they were pot bound and seem to be
doing OK now.

My problem is that I never know how much to water them - the soil is well
drained and it dries quite quickly at the surface (the sparrows love it) but
there is clay, that slopes, a foot or so below the surface. I nearly drowned
a holly because it was at the bottom of the garden where all the water will
tend to run to.

I'm loathe to do anything to the hedge because it gives extra privacy from
the houses to the north (gardens are back to back), gives the sparrows
somewhere to escape to when feeding, has bindweed that attracts some
butterflies and bees, and blackberry, which I hope will also attract bees
and birds.

--
Steve