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

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.

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

"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

"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.

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.

"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

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.

"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

| 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.

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

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.

On 21/3/08 17:48, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

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!

And elderflower cordial.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

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.'

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.'