We're about to plant a hedge, preferable evergreen. we want something
reasonably easy to maintain but which will not take too long to look "hedge
like". we are on quite heavy clay and this will be in a south facing garden
with trees so not too sunny. So far I've come up with holly. Does this sound
like a good choice? All our other hedges are hornbeam but they are a bit too
see through in the winter and the hedge will divide teh driveway from teh
garden so we want it to be (a) dense so that we cannot see the cars adn (b)
reasonably child proof. How quickly will holly bush out into a hedge? (We
can have a temporary fence to start with next to it.) Also I've seen plants
advertised in teh back of GW. In particular Hopes Grove nurseries - has
anyone used these? We don't know whether to go mail order or try to find a
garden centre selling plants. We'd also appreciate any advice re size to
buy. This lot sell 4-5 foot in pots. would that establish okay or would we
be better off with smaller ones? Any advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

"catkin" wrote in message
...
Any advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,


you don't say how long a hedge you are looking for, i take it a goodly
number?

.. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade supplier who
will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper and bettter qaulaity
than plans that hve been sitting in the GC with inadeqaute TLC. Retail mark
up is 100% on the pre vat ex nursery price, os there is a big saving to be
made if you take the time to seasch out the right supplier.

Remember the "wholesale only" or "trade only" signs only mean "Don't come in
for singles!" if your requirement is for wholesale qauntities they will
happily deal. if they are exceptionally prissy about trade only, spek to a
local gardener and do a "supply only" deal with him and split the mark up in
an agreeable way.

WRT plant size. 4-5ft stock in a deeply manured tench with a leaky pipe
watering system ii waht you want. Small plants take too long to fill out.
But do make sure you know how bushy the stock is you are buying - a 4-5ft
single stem is verdifferent from a 4-5ft bushy plant!

pk

"catkin" wrote

We're about to plant a hedge, preferable evergreen. we want something
reasonably easy to maintain but which will not take too long to look
"hedge like". we are on quite heavy clay and this will be in a south
facing garden with trees so not too sunny. So far I've come up with holly.
Does this sound like a good choice? All our other hedges are hornbeam but
they are a bit too see through in the winter and the hedge will divide teh
driveway from teh garden so we want it to be (a) dense so that we cannot
see the cars adn (b) reasonably child proof. How quickly will holly bush
out into a hedge? (We can have a temporary fence to start with next to
it.) Also I've seen plants advertised in teh back of GW. In particular
Hopes Grove nurseries - has anyone used these? We don't know whether to go
mail order or try to find a garden centre selling plants. We'd also
appreciate any advice re size to buy. This lot sell 4-5 foot in pots.
would that establish okay or would we be better off with smaller ones? Any
advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

Hi Hayley

I planted a mixed shrub hedge bordering our front boundary.
The location is yorkshire also onto clay.
Added plenty of compost local to the planting site.
Used the following stock:
Photinia, Escallonia, Ceanothus, Catoneaster and Eleagnus.
Gives a nice mixture of shades of green, flowers, berries and scents - all
evergreen.

The result seems to be appreciated by the more discerning neighbours.

HTH

Phil

Why does everyone always want instant results??
Holly will take several years.
Beech grows quite quickly and, altho not evergreen, the brown leaves stay on throughout the winter until the new growth begins in spring. I had a very thick one on clay in a previous garden.
What about a mixed native hedge? There is an offer somewhere in this month's GW for whips (barerooted) for less than 40 quid for 5 metres.
Other possibles are berberis (but beware if you have little kids) and various rosas (again barerooted would be by far the cheapest)

PK wrote:
"catkin" wrote in message
...
Any advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,


you don't say how long a hedge you are looking for, i take it a goodly
number?

. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade supplier
who will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper and bettter
qaulaity than plans that hve been sitting in the GC with inadeqaute
TLC. Retail mark up is 100% on the pre vat ex nursery price, os there
is a big saving to be made if you take the time to seasch out the
right supplier.

And wait a while for the bare root stock to come in, much cheaper than
potted / container grown.

"Vipera berus" wrote in message
...
PK wrote:
"catkin" wrote in message
...
Any advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,


you don't say how long a hedge you are looking for, i take it a goodly
number?

. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade supplier
who will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper and bettter
qaulaity than plans that hve been sitting in the GC with inadeqaute
TLC. Retail mark up is 100% on the pre vat ex nursery price, os there
is a big saving to be made if you take the time to seasch out the
right supplier.

And wait a while for the bare root stock to come in, much cheaper than
potted / container grown.





ISTBCB, bare root holly is not nomally availble

pk

PK wrote:
. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade
supplier who will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper
and bettter qaulaity than plans that hve been sitting in the GC
with inadeqaute TLC. Retail mark up is 100% on the pre vat ex
nursery price, os there is a big saving to be made if you take the
time to seasch out the right supplier.

And wait a while for the bare root stock to come in, much cheaper
than potted / container grown.





ISTBCB, bare root holly is not nomally availble

pk

http://shop.btcv.org.uk/shop/level3/79/stock/671
Vb

"Vipera berus" wrote in message
...
PK wrote:
. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade
supplier who will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper
and bettter qaulaity than plans that hve been sitting in the GC
with inadeqaute TLC. Retail mark up is 100% on the pre vat ex
nursery price, os there is a big saving to be made if you take the
time to seasch out the right supplier.

And wait a while for the bare root stock to come in, much cheaper
than potted / container grown.





ISTBCB, bare root holly is not nomally availble

pk

http://shop.btcv.org.uk/shop/level3/79/stock/671
Vb




Ah, very small. I doubt you will find anything much larger

Holly in larger forms is best bought container grown - NOT containerized -
and definitely not bare rooted.

or from a good nursery who have treated the plant correctly in ground over
several years to make rootballing possible
these people are good:
http://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatal...yB1Qodmiu2z A

pk

Janet Conroy wrote:
Why does everyone always want instant results??
Holly will take several years.
Beech grows quite quickly and, altho not evergreen, the brown leaves
stay on throughout the winter until the new growth begins in spring.
I had a very thick one on clay in a previous garden.
What about a mixed native hedge? There is an offer somewhere in this
month's GW for whips (barerooted) for less than 40 quid for 5 metres.
Other possibles are berberis (but beware if you have little kids) and
various rosas (again barerooted would be by far the cheapest)

Nice mixtures here...

http://www.hedge-plants.co.uk/bareroot.html#bareroot

Why does everyone always want instant results??

I don't usually - its just that I want teh children to be able to play out
teh front so need to enclose teh garden. I will fence it but want a hedge
long term and ideally want somethign to at least disguise the ugly fence
(and mak eit look less like fun to climb) as soon as poss.

What about a mixed native hedge?

we've got one out teh back - it is great but real hassle as we can't get teh
brambles out etc. and the kids keep getting caught on them. also it is about
6 fot wide and I need somethign that i can keep reasonably think out the
front.

Other possible are berberis (but beware if you have little kids) and
various rosas (again barerooted would be by far the cheapest)

What do these look like in teh winter? I seen really great looking hedge in
France down the centres of the payages - I know that you'd get goo dhips but
do all teh leaves drop off? Do they need pruning?

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

On 24/10/08 20:49, in article , "PK"
wrote:

"Vipera berus" wrote in message
...
PK wrote:
"catkin" wrote in message
...
Any advice appreciated .
thanks in advance,


you don't say how long a hedge you are looking for, i take it a goodly
number?

. Better than a garden centre, find a local nursery or trade supplier
who will be haapy to deal with you direct - far cheaper and bettter
qaulaity than plans that hve been sitting in the GC with inadeqaute
TLC. Retail mark up is 100% on the pre vat ex nursery price, os there
is a big saving to be made if you take the time to seasch out the
right supplier.

And wait a while for the bare root stock to come in, much cheaper than
potted / container grown.


ISTBCB, bare root holly is not nomally availble

pk

Holly is evergreen and doesn't drop its leaves (all at once). AFAIK - you
can buy holly in pots or root balls but I'm not aware of it being available
bare rooted.
Bare root hedging doesn't come in until it has dropped its leaves and can
safely be dug up and moved because it has no leaves to sustain. So the
availability of bare root hedging depends on the temperatures and if
tonight's 3C is anything to go by, it won't be long!
The exception to this is beech which doesn't drop its leaves if it's kept
below 8' to 9' or so but the leaves go brown and remain on the hedge all
winter.
We haven't dealt with these companies but their sites seem informative and
knowledgeable:
http://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/
http://www.hedgenursery.co.uk/

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

In article ,
says...
Why does everyone always want instant results??

I don't usually - its just that I want teh children to be able to play out
teh front so need to enclose teh garden. I will fence it but want a hedge
long term and ideally want somethign to at least disguise the ugly fence
(and mak eit look less like fun to climb) as soon as poss.

What about a mixed native hedge?

we've got one out teh back - it is great but real hassle as we can't get teh
brambles out etc. and the kids keep getting caught on them. also it is about
6 fot wide and I need somethign that i can keep reasonably think out the
front.

Other possible are berberis (but beware if you have little kids) and
various rosas (again barerooted would be by far the cheapest)

What do these look like in teh winter? I seen really great looking hedge in
France down the centres of the payages - I know that you'd get goo dhips but
do all teh leaves drop off? Do they need pruning?


Holly is a good choice, but I would go the extra mile and look for a non
prickly sort unless securety is an issue as it is literally a pain to
clear up the hedge cuttings otherwise!
--
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...


Holly is a good choice, but I would go the extra mile and look for a non
prickly sort unless securety is an issue as it is literally a pain to
clear up the hedge cuttings otherwise!

JC van Tol is prickle free but possible not the best/bushiest for for
hedging..

pk

The hedges down the payages in France are mostly rosas, but they ARE prickly. Berberis is evergreen and gives small flowers in Summer and orange/red or yellow berries in winter, which birds love. But again, it is very spiky.

In article ,
Janet Conroy wrote:


The hedges down the payages in France are mostly rosas, but they ARE
prickly. Berberis is evergreen and gives small flowers in Summer and
orange/red or yellow berries in winter, which birds love. But again,
it is very spiky.

Berberis species often have black fruit, and vary between the cuddly
and fiendish. B. vulgaris has needles over 1" long, but some are
actually thornless.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.