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#1
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How long a shade does a privet hedge cast?
My front garden, in Newcastle on tyne, faces due south, a pedestrian
footpath runs east-west along the front, then there is a privet hedge my height, 6 ft, and 2 ft thick, which I don't want to cut down because it allows me to leave the curtains undrawn. I have planted various trees and shrubs 2 ft this side of it, but they haven't done well. In 3 years, a holly "J C Vantol" grew a bit , but lost all its leaves and now obviously has to be pulled up. A Pieris Japonica further along hasn't died, but it has hardly grown in 3 years. Only now has the penny dropped that this is probably because of the shade cast by the hedge - the rest of the garden seems reasonably fertile. So my questions to you are :- * Am I right in thinking that the poor doing of these plants is because they are so near the hedge on their south side? * How far does the hedge's influence extend? * What can I plant that will do well near to the hedge? Michael Bell -- |
#2
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How long a shade does a privet hedge cast?
"Michael Bell" wrote in message . uk... My front garden, in Newcastle on tyne, faces due south, a pedestrian footpath runs east-west along the front, then there is a privet hedge my height, 6 ft, and 2 ft thick, which I don't want to cut down because it allows me to leave the curtains undrawn. I have planted various trees and shrubs 2 ft this side of it, but they haven't done well. In 3 years, a holly "J C Vantol" grew a bit , but lost all its leaves and now obviously has to be pulled up. A Pieris Japonica further along hasn't died, but it has hardly grown in 3 years. Only now has the penny dropped that this is probably because of the shade cast by the hedge - the rest of the garden seems reasonably fertile. So my questions to you are :- * Am I right in thinking that the poor doing of these plants is because they are so near the hedge on their south side? * How far does the hedge's influence extend? * What can I plant that will do well near to the hedge? Michael Bell -- I have the same problem and have found Hardy fuchsias do well in this position along with summer bedding of Busy Lizzies or begonias. I have also a very large Choisya Ternate Sundance, that I grew from a tiny pot plant, that is now over 4 foot tall in the shade. |
#3
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How long a shade does a privet hedge cast?
"Michael Bell" wrote in message . uk... My front garden, in Newcastle on tyne, faces due south, a pedestrian footpath runs east-west along the front, then there is a privet hedge my height, 6 ft, and 2 ft thick, which I don't want to cut down because it allows me to leave the curtains undrawn. I have planted various trees and shrubs 2 ft this side of it, but they haven't done well. In 3 years, a holly "J C Vantol" grew a bit , but lost all its leaves and now obviously has to be pulled up. A Pieris Japonica further along hasn't died, but it has hardly grown in 3 years. Only now has the penny dropped that this is probably because of the shade cast by the hedge - the rest of the garden seems reasonably fertile. So my questions to you are :- * Am I right in thinking that the poor doing of these plants is because they are so near the hedge on their south side? * How far does the hedge's influence extend? * What can I plant that will do well near to the hedge? Michael Bell -- It *may* not only be shade. I had a privet hedge on Thames Valley clay and up to about a foot from the hedge the earth was always drier and less fertile which I attributed, in part, to the hedge sucking away at the earth. |
#4
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How long a shade does a privet hedge cast?
On Jun 13, 9:17*am, "Graham Harrison"
wrote: "Michael Bell" wrote in message . uk... My front garden, in Newcastle on tyne, faces due south, a pedestrian footpath runs east-west along the front, then there is a privet hedge my height, 6 ft, and 2 ft thick, which I don't want to cut down because it allows me to leave the curtains undrawn. I have planted various trees and shrubs 2 ft this side of it, but they haven't done well. In 3 years, a holly "J C Vantol" grew a bit , but lost all its leaves and now obviously has to be pulled up. A Pieris Japonica further along hasn't died, but it has hardly grown in 3 years. Only now has the penny dropped that this is probably because of the shade cast by the hedge - the rest of the garden seems reasonably fertile. So my questions to you are :- * Am I right in thinking that the poor doing of these plants is because they are so near the hedge on their south side? * How far does the hedge's influence extend? * What can I plant that will do well near to the hedge? Michael Bell -- It *may* not only be shade. * I had a privet hedge on Thames Valley clay and up to about a foot from the hedge the earth was always drier and less fertile which I attributed, in part, to the hedge sucking away at the earth.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Yes, absolutely. Unless you have a large garden, you can't afford to waste space with a hedge. Hardly anything's going to grow well within several feet of it, they're hard work, boring and greedy of space and nutrients. When we moved in here a year ago (after 40 odd years of cutting hedges for other people) I got rid of all of ours (big leylandii) and liberated a huge amount of extra space. The outside boundaries are now fenced with trellis soon to be covered with climbing roses, clematis, honeysuckle etc backed by mixed borders of shrubs, old roses and herbaceous. This gives just as much privacy, more enjoyable work and when everything's established your'e going to smell it before you turn into our close. Rod |
#6
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Quote:
Having done this, I have been able to grow shade-loving bamboos (Fargesia nitida "Juizhaigou #2" and Fargesia murieliae "Simba" if you really want to know), thirsty but shallow-rooted plants, quite happily right alongside the thirsty and more grasping hedge. I think the same trick would work well for a variety of other plants happy with a north facing aspect, such as holly, etc. As ground-cover plants, at low level, I suspect you will find epimediums and vincas will do fine. I have an epimedium growing great guns next to the leylandii hedge and overshadowed also by a multi-stemmed shrubby pine tree, a very dry dark situation, without any water-protecting barriers. I thought nothing would grow there, as even weeds don't, but the epimedium does! Someone mentioned hardy fuschias. I would second that. There is a hardy fuschia that lives in the middle of a cluster of conifers in my garden, which was there before I arrived, and it comes back every year to my astonishment. Not the most exciting plant, but cotoneasters are extraordinarily canny about satisfying their needs. I'm forever having to weed them out where they self-seed in the narrow dark gap between my shed and the leylandii hedge. You might also get a chaenomeles to grow, provided it is a basic one (small red flowers and thorns) not a fancy one, I have one going great guns in a very disadvantageous situation. We have a Spiraea that grows on the north side of a hedge and seems ineradicable, it is the type that grows on canes with pink fluffy flowers at the top, I think that's douglasii or a hybrid thereof. There are some ferns that will grow in dry shade, such as hartstongue. |
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