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

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)

"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

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

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)

"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

You can either have a quick growing hedge or you can have a low maintenance one.

Having said that, of my various hedges, I find the laurel one (which is quick) the easiest to maintain. (Of the various things called laurel, I think it is the usual one, ie, prunus laurocerasus.) This is because although it is quick growing, the new shoots stay soft for some time, so the hedge clippers go through like butter. Provided of course one trims it regularly. Let it go, and you'll have an all day job with a hand-saw to get it back to size. When I moved to the house, it was 7 feet tall and 8 feet thick. It was a big job, but we have reduced it to 3 feet tall and 1 foot thick, and we are having no difficulty keeping it at that size for at least 5 years. It usually needs two trims a year, once in late spring and again at the end of the summer, which tidies it up for the winter.