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Elderberry hedge
Hello
I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much wood? Mr X |
Elderberry hedge
In article , "Mr X" writes: | | I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden | to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root | elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question | is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What | do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much | wood? Impossible. Sorry. Elder does not form a thick hedge, nor does it have leaves that grow directly off old wood or short spurs. You should be able to get a reasonable visual barrier, but no more than that - anyone looking through will see through (if not clearly). Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Elderberry hedge
In article , "Mr X"
says... Hello I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much wood? Mr X Strange choice for a hedge, they are rather brittle and make long annual canes if cut, I think the best you can hope for is something a bit informal as a screen. Nice for the fruit though! -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
Elderberry hedge
"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message T... In article , "Mr X" says... Hello I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much wood? Mr X Strange choice for a hedge, they are rather brittle and make long annual canes if cut, I think the best you can hope for is something a bit informal as a screen. Nice for the fruit though! -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea Ours do quite nicely as a hedge, although not as dense as some, you cannot see through it in season -- Rowdens Reservoir Allotments Association www.rraa.moonfruit.com |
Elderberry hedge
"Robert (Plymouth)" wrote in message ... "Charlie Pridham" wrote in message T... In article , "Mr X" says... Hello I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much wood? Mr X Strange choice for a hedge, they are rather brittle and make long annual canes if cut, I think the best you can hope for is something a bit informal as a screen. Nice for the fruit though! -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea Ours do quite nicely as a hedge, although not as dense as some, you cannot see through it in season -- Rowdens Reservoir Allotments Association www.rraa.moonfruit.com Well I'm not much of a gardener but I thought Id get a quick screen from elderberry and I love elderberry juice. I would be interested in any better suggestions. I just need a bit of fast growing privacy in my tiny gardern. |
Elderberry hedge
In article , "Robert \(Plymouth\)" writes: | | [ Elder ] | | Ours do quite nicely as a hedge, although not as dense as some, you cannot | see through it in season How thick is the hedge, though? The OP said that he had a tiny garden, which means he has room for only a very narrow hedge. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Elderberry hedge
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , "Robert \(Plymouth\)" writes: | | [ Elder ] | | Ours do quite nicely as a hedge, although not as dense as some, you cannot | see through it in season How thick is the hedge, though? The OP said that he had a tiny garden, which means he has room for only a very narrow hedge. Regards, Nick Maclaren. My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and therefore harder work |
Elderberry hedge
In article , "Mr X" writes: | | My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to | hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of | planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and | therefore harder work You could let the elder grow upwards, pruning it to be narrow, which will give you flowers and fruit. If you prune elder back every year, you will get no flowers and hence no fruit. And you could then solve your privacy problem by growing a climber up and around the elder, once the latter is established. You would want something not too vigorous, so perhaps the smaller clematis (e.g. C. alpina, but there are dozens of them). The best solution to a really narrow hedge is a 'fedge', which is some wooden posts (tanalised but NOT concreted in), and open wire netting ('pig netting') stapled to them. You then grow climbers up that. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Elderberry hedge
"Mr X"wrote My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and therefore harder work At 2 metres wide I'd use a fence, or trellis for plants to grow up, to save space. Talking of climbing plants...over to you Charlie. :-) -- Regards Bob Hobden |
Elderberry hedge
| My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to | hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of | planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and | therefore harder work You could let the elder grow upwards, pruning it to be narrow, which will give you flowers and fruit. If you prune elder back every year, you will get no flowers and hence no fruit. Although I would like some flowers and fruit, privacy is what I want the most And you could then solve your privacy problem by growing a climber up and around the elder, once the latter is established. You would want something not too vigorous, so perhaps the smaller clematis (e.g. C. alpina, but there are dozens of them). Now that is a good idea Thanks people. |
Elderberry hedge
On 21 Mar, 19:22, "Mr X" wrote:
| My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to | hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of | planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and | therefore harder work You could let the elder grow upwards, pruning it to be narrow, which will give you flowers and fruit. *If you prune elder back every year, you will get no flowers and hence no fruit. Although I would like some flowers and fruit, *privacy is what I want the most And you could then solve your privacy problem by growing a climber up and around the elder, once the latter is established. *You would want something not too vigorous, so perhaps the smaller clematis (e.g. C. alpina, but there are dozens of them). Now that is a good idea Thanks people. This reads to me like a wind up, but if not then post and wires and grow blackberries or logan berries these will give you the juice you want. David Hill |
Elderberry hedge
Bob Hobden says...
"Mr X"wrote My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and therefore harder work At 2 metres wide I'd use a fence, or trellis for plants to grow up, to save space. Talking of climbing plants...over to you Charlie. :-) I'm surprised that anyone would actually want elderberry as a hedge. I've always treated it as a "hedge weed" and chopped them out of existing hawthorn hedges at every opportunity. Perhaps that attitude comes from my farming background where elderflower is just too flimsy to make a barrier against cattle in hedging and is literally a waste of space. It also tends to self seed everywhere. Awful stuff. In view of the small garden I'd definitely go for trellis and climbing plants... lots of choice of clematis etc. -- David in Normandy. To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted. |
Elderberry hedge
On 21/3/08 18:15, in article
, "Mr X" wrote: "Robert (Plymouth)" wrote in message ... "Charlie Pridham" wrote in message T... In article , "Mr X" says... Hello I have been trying to decide what the best hedge to grow in my tiny garden to give me some privacy. I finally decided to buy a quantity of bare root elderberry plants that are 2 years old and about 3 feet tall . The question is, how easy will it be to maintain a nice thick hedge of elderberry? What do I need to do to get nice lush growth through the summers without too much wood? Mr X Strange choice for a hedge, they are rather brittle and make long annual canes if cut, I think the best you can hope for is something a bit informal as a screen. Nice for the fruit though! -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea Ours do quite nicely as a hedge, although not as dense as some, you cannot see through it in season -- Rowdens Reservoir Allotments Association www.rraa.moonfruit.com Well I'm not much of a gardener but I thought Id get a quick screen from elderberry and I love elderberry juice. I would be interested in any better suggestions. I just need a bit of fast growing privacy in my tiny gardern. I do think elders are not a great idea for a small garden. We have an elderberry hedge which is, admittedly, pretty old, but it's about 8' wide at its narrowest point. You might be better with e.g. Rosa rugosa which might deter intruders, too, beech, which if kept to around 8' retains even the dead leaves in winter until it sprouts new ones or, depending on where you live, Escallonia (not hardy everywhere). -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
Elderberry hedge
On 21/3/08 18:36, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote: In article , "Mr X" writes: | | My garden is 7 metres by 2 metres, its the 7 metre length that I want to | hedge. I dont want my hedge thicker than 60cm if possible. I did think of | planting sunflowers as there is plenty of light but they are annuals and | therefore harder work You could let the elder grow upwards, pruning it to be narrow, which will give you flowers and fruit. If you prune elder back every year, you will get no flowers and hence no fruit. And you could then solve your privacy problem by growing a climber up and around the elder, once the latter is established. You would want something not too vigorous, so perhaps the smaller clematis (e.g. C. alpina, but there are dozens of them). The best solution to a really narrow hedge is a 'fedge', which is some wooden posts (tanalised but NOT concreted in), and open wire netting ('pig netting') stapled to them. You then grow climbers up that. He's considering a 2' deep hedge of elders and then suggests sunflowers as an alternative? Colour me sceptical but.......! -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
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