On 24/10/08 22:28, in article , "Dave"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 24/10/08 15:26, in article , "Dave"
wrote:
snip
One of the hollies was £600, the other £300. Looking on the internet I
seem to see hollies (not the variegated) type at 2.5 m tall for around
£60, which makes me wonder why I paid so much for these. The largest is
a pretty big plant though - it is as much as I can do to drag the pot
along the ground, and have no chance to lift it. Someone is going to
give me help to put it in. Digging the whole is enough work!

dave

Those prices seem very high but do we know where you live, Dave? If we do,
people here who live in that area might be able to direct you to a good
nursery for hedging plants. You could have a look at www.HedgesDirect.co.uk
for any further hedging needs or get bare root hedging from a reliable
source locally. This is coming up to the time to plant them.


Em,
I did wonder if I'd paid too much. The garden centre I bought these
from, Altons:

http://www.alton-gardencentre.co.uk/

is in supposed to be in Wickford, Essex, but it seems much closer to
Rayleigh to me. (It's on the A127 Southend Rd, if you know it). I
suspect it is not the cheapest by a long way, but their plans do seem to
be in good condition - unlike some of the others, where they try to sell
half-dead plants. I'm amazed what places like B+Q try to sell, but even
some decent sized garden centres around here have plants in poor
condition. Altons is a pretty large place, with a cafe inside etc. I do
not know of a larger place myself, but I am sure there are larger
places. They clearly are not set up for internet sales.

Do look at the other hedge thread here and at the people I mentioned. I
don't know that bit of Essex but I imagine it's close enough to London to
push prices up? I think what you need is a nursery or a hedging specialist.
This Nursery is in Colchester - http://www.hedge-plants.co.uk/

My husband was born in Waltham Abbey and his family had a nursery in Upshire
so I've visited there and very lovely it is, too. BUT, being close to
London, the houses have been 'poshed up' and I think prices might reflect
that.

I can't afford to buy any more at £300-£600, but looking in any of the
garden centres around here, many plants are a lot of money. I might look
at other places online to buy other hollies to fill the gap in my hedge.
Apart from looking quite nice, they also add security, as their leaves
are not too inviting for intruders!

Online seems your best bet, IMO. Look at Glebe Farm hedging at the url I've
given above. But when planting a hedge, do be prepared to be patient for a
year or three. In the end, it pays off.


PS,
sorry about the bit about "Digging the whole is enough work!" I'm not
quite sure why I spent hole that way!

There's something about typing for newsgroups that sends everyone's spelling
haywire at times!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)