Hi

I'm just in the process of planning planting a hedge. I'm going to plant a
privet hedge which I know will not put me at the forefront of garden design,
but in fact there already is a privet hedge halfway across the front of the
house and this one is to fill the gap across the other half of the frontage.

I do have one question about privet which is that in "The Tree & Shrub
Expert" by Dr. D. G. Hessayon (who else?) it says about privet:

"Its drawback is that not many plants can thrive in its company."

I'm wondering in what way plants cannot thrive in its company? What does it
do to them?

At the moment I don't know exactly what will be in the privet's company but
it is most likely lawn up to the hedge. Is that okay or will there be a great
big area of bare soil beside the hedge or something?

The privet I already have did have a mass of weeds as company. They were
thriving very well, as weeds do, but they've all gone now and there is bare
soil covered in some of that black sheeting stuff which lets water through
but no light. It is likely that next year I will be preparing that for lawn,
but first I need to find out about what will live happily beside the privet.

I am very new indeed at this gardening business btw.

--
Patrick

"PJ" wrote in message
. com...
Hi

I'm just in the process of planning planting a hedge. I'm going to plant a
privet hedge which I know will not put me at the forefront of garden
design,
but in fact there already is a privet hedge halfway across the front of
the
house and this one is to fill the gap across the other half of the
frontage.

I do have one question about privet which is that in "The Tree & Shrub
Expert" by Dr. D. G. Hessayon (who else?) it says about privet:

"Its drawback is that not many plants can thrive in its company."

I'm wondering in what way plants cannot thrive in its company? What does
it
do to them?

At the moment I don't know exactly what will be in the privet's company
but
it is most likely lawn up to the hedge. Is that okay or will there be a
great
big area of bare soil beside the hedge or something?

The privet I already have did have a mass of weeds as company. They were
thriving very well, as weeds do, but they've all gone now and there is
bare
soil covered in some of that black sheeting stuff which lets water through
but no light. It is likely that next year I will be preparing that for
lawn,
but first I need to find out about what will live happily beside the
privet.

I am very new indeed at this gardening business btw.

--
Patrick


Lawn should be fine close to a privet hedge and they are relatively easy to
maintain and certainly not invasive water sapping hedge plants as Leylandii

So long as you pile in the compost most things should grown in a reasonable
bed forward of the privet it really all depends on actual soil structure,
sun and moisture retention

PJ wrote in
. com:

I do have one question about privet which is that in "The Tree & Shrub
Expert" by Dr. D. G. Hessayon (who else?) it says about privet:

"Its drawback is that not many plants can thrive in its company."

I'm wondering in what way plants cannot thrive in its company? What
does it do to them?

I presume he means that (like most hedging plants) it tends to slurp up the
available water and food so the soil immediately next to it isn't ideal
for, say, roses or clematis or other things that like lots of food and
moisture.

I've not found it any worse than other hedges in that respect: things that
tolerate it a bit dry like, say, nasturtians, will cope, as will grass. I
think you'll be fine with lawn, though you might find that the bit next to
the hedge goes yellow a bit before the rest, if there is a big drought.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--