On Jun 5, 10:36*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-06-05 22:26:22 +0100, Jeff Bailey said:





Hi there,

My garden backs onto some common land with only a 3ft wall as the
boundary. Some local youths have started congregating there especially in
the summer evenings, making a racket and throwing litter and fag ends
over the wall, so for privacy we want to get a tall hedge along the
boundary.

I know leylandii have had some bad press in the past when people have let
them get out of control, but as I understand it they're about the fastest
growing hedge conifer you can get. I'd like to plant a line of them to
cover the 35' boundary - thinking of 10 to 12 plants for that?

We'd like them to get to about 8' high - how many years would that take?
And once they've reached the target height, would it be fairly easy to
keep them to that height by annual pruning (with a ladder and shears, not
powered tools)? The wall is about 25' from the house, so we definitely
don't want the hedges to get tall enough to shade the whole garden or
even the back window of the house.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,
Jeff

The problem with leylandii in any restricted space is that they take up
a lot of width and in your case, may well make the matter worse by
pushing the wall outwards. *I had some which had grown to about 15' or
so and which had distorted a wall and the railings set into it. *When I
cut them down, I think I probably gained an extra 6' to 8'of garden, at
least. *But yes, they can be kept trimmed to a height that you want. *
What you can't do with them is cut back into old wood because they
won't re-sprout.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd plant a mixture of Hawthorn and Lonicera Natidia, that will give
you a tough hedge and evergreen, it will be a bit slower than
leylandii but if you get it to 8 or 9ft and then change your mind you
can cut it down to any height you want without spoiling it.
With Leylandii they can push through if they want, and as it gets
older if you dont clean it out the old growth is very flamable.
Don't be tempted to but large plants as they take longer to settle in
and smaller ones will often be larger after a couple of years than the
big ones.