On Apr 26, 5:48*am, squirreluk
wrote:
Ok i have a hawthorn hedge, its about 9ft high 23m long and very see
through, its in really bad condition at bottom(bare, weeds etc) i
bought stuff to build a fence and was going to rip it out, problem is i
have bad neighbours across the street and hedge blocks them off, my wife
now wants me to put the new two meter high fence in the inside and leave
the hedge up, is this a good idea? what would happen to the hedge? would
it die off?

thanks mark

--
squirreluk

Try "plashing" the Hawthorn. My English husband, who has lived all but
ten years of his almost 60 years in the UK, has seen many examples of
this having been done to Hawthorn. He said at first it would look a
bit rough as it healed and grew in, but you can make it as thick as
you want and the fence would mean you'd have to maintain it. Plashing
is making a cut and bending a branch over horizontally and as it
heals, and grows, it sends new shoots upwards making a more dense and
thick impenetrable hedge which is what you want. .He says there are
certainly nurseries that have a special tool that does this. Google
the term, or ask a local nursery about it, he says that he's seen many
wonderful examples of this in Somerset and other areas. Good luck
with your solution. If your wife is patient with the plashing, you
will have a hedge that won't have to be maintained like the fence
would.

madgardener in Tennessee