I've decided to turn the area on the far side of my garden path into hard standing so that I can park my motor on it. Aside from the problem of it needing a tonne of good hard core dumping in it (any tipper drivers in Hudds area? ) to bring it level with the main path outside, there's also the problem of it currently only being approx 6ft wide because of where the side hedge has been planted.

The actual plans of the land show the boundary to be level with the far wall of the brick outhouse which extends 8ft away from the path, enough room to park my motor and be able to get out and get round it, so the hedge was planted with 2ft to spare behind it, follow?

So, the (privet) hedge will need to come out! I'm a very big fan of privacy and if I was allowed to do it, would have 8ft walls all the way round(!) but obviously that's not possible. I'll need to replace my boundary with something, but can't decide on whether to use 6ft wooden fencing panels with wooden posts, 6ft wooden fencing panels with concrete posts or replace it with a new hedge.

My concerns are:

Wooden fencing panels with wooden posts - I live in a fairly elevated position with virtually nothing to break the strong winds that come off the hills and it IS a strong wind when it blows too! Everywhere else can be having a calm day but it'll be blowing a gale up the side of my house and I fear that a REAL gale will just rip them to pieces.

Wooden fencing panels with concrete posts - same concerns as above, but somehow I get the impression that the fence will be more sturdy with using concrete posts, but someone warned me off using them as the panels move about in the concrete recesses and eventually the wind will break them. ??

Planting a new hedge - there's one good advantage to having a hedge I find, and that's that you can let it grow a bit bigger than you're allowed and because it's only a gradual increase as it grows, no-one notices. It would be my preferred choice, but I don't like the fact that it's going to take YEARS for it to grow to a normal size and requires regular cutting too. Are there such things as fast growing hedges ??

The only other thought I'd had was to physically move the privet hedge that's already in, by breaking it into smaller segments and re-planting it. It would obviously be well out of shape after re-planing and take some time carefully cutting it to get it back in shape but it's a decent size and thickness, but not TOO big to move. What is the success rate of moving hedges and re-planting them?

The garden is on a slope too which doesn't help the fence panel idea as they've have to be stepped.

Had thought about using bricks to a certain height then using fence panel inserts to bring it up to height, but this is far more expensive route and would require the expertise of a brickie as I'm hopeless at brick-laying.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

R

Leylandii

Fast growing.

Annoying.

Cheap.

Has to be 'topped' or will grow to incredible heights.

The advantage of a hedge is that it will be less sensitive to the wind - because the wind goes through it, rather than hitting it straight on. But of course what you want is not a fast-growing hedge, but a hedge which grows rapidly to a certain height and then obligingly stops at that height. Unfortunately, I don't think they exist. You can get the dreaded leylandii, but having had to take them out of my garden, I really wouldn't advise it! You can buy ready-grown nice hedges, but at a substantially higher price which may put it out of your budget. No idea what the success rate on transplanting privet might be - some generous soul might look it up in their RHS encyclopedia, though!

having had another think about the leylandii, I think they might not be very suitable for the situation in that they grow sideways too - and I mean that they'll get to 3 or 4 metres wide. When we took ours out, we realised that we had 2m of garden that we'd never known about - and our neighbours got their washing line pole back after many years of not seeing it! If the op is talking about moving privet 2ft over, I think leylandii would be a killer.

The trouble with hedges is always going to be the width. If space is at a premium you might be best going with something that isn't going to creep sideways. Is a wall feasible? I think brick looks nicer than fence at the front of a house. Alternatively, what about a fence/trellis combination - trellis helps with the wind blowing issue and you could grow a clematis or something up it to give a softer look.

I'm thinking of putting some kind of hedge in my back garden to kinda separate the lawn from the shed and greenhouse at the back. We were gona make some kind of arch in the middle so that you can still walk through.

Would Leylandi be good for this, are they hard to maintain? Is there a way to stop them getting so wide? Don't even know what they look like, gona look them up now.

Like wombat, I didn't have a clue what a leylandii hedge was so banged it into google images and found this !

http://www.angliangardener.co.uk/Plants%20pop%20ups/leylandii.jpg

And that's exactly the type of hedge I want! Now, between you and me , I'm planning on planting the hedge (if I am to go for one) outside my boundary (there's nothing next to my house except grass/woodland) so that should do the job just fine!

So you folks reckon they're fast growers then? How fast are you talking and do you buy them as seeds or part grown or what?

R

Ooh, yeah this is what I want. Gona plant some of these when I move in. Wonder how far apart you need to plant them. Are there any sites that tell you what you need to do?

You can get small potted leylandiis from the garden centres - I think they grow 2ft every year.
If you want to go down the fence route stay away from the traditional closed lap panels, they would be like sails in the gales. Panels which allow air to pass through easily would be ideal - you could plant some fast growing climbers like Russian Wine or the Ivy against the fence which would cover it quickly and also hold the fence in place during the gails.

Warning though - fast growing is good at the early stages, but they keep on growing - that's why you get those 40ft trees and major neighbour disputes. Once you've got the hedge quickly to the height you want, you've got a lot of work on your hands keeping the trees in control. And for your purposes, wombat, you might want to be aware that they are very greedy feeders - they'll drain a lot of the water and goodness out of the soil, so if you plant them in the middle of the garden you might find they affect how the rest of the plants in your garden get along.

PLEASE DON'T!

Seriously, these are absolutely wrong for Wombat. Firstly they are ugly, and secondly, they are very hard to maintain. They grow very fast, wide and high - you will have to trim them on top and both sides twice a year, or more often if you're going to keep them looking nice. They will take up the nourishment and water from the garden and you'll end up with dead spots where things won't grow.

The site that's linked to above has some helpful FAQ on hedges:

http://www.angliangardener.co.uk/Any%20questions/hedges3.htm

And some alternative suggestions for better fast-growing plants

http://www.angliangardener.co.uk/Plants/fast%20growing%20plants.htm

Please don't make the mistake of putting in leylandii unless you are a retired person who has all the time in the world to trim them.

We paid £1000 to have someone's nice fast-growing hedge taken out of our garden, so it's a mistake that can be expensive!

p.s. the one in the picture is a nice small well-trimmed hedge!

Cor, won't be me trimming em! That's bf's job! Told him how many times he'd have to do it, and he seems happy with that. So I'll let him decide.

Ps. I think there are already Leylandi at the house we're buying. Buying off a landscape gardener and from what I recall, they are about 7 foot and square.

quote:

Originally posted by digereedoo:
Warning though - fast growing is good at the early stages, but they keep on growing - that's why you get those 40ft trees and major neighbour disputes. Once you've got the hedge quickly to the height you want, you've got a lot of work on your hands keeping the trees in control.

Worth reiterating. The fast growing nature of these beasts resulted in them either being almost banned, or actually banned. Most garden centres will now only stock the slower growing (but still pretty prolific) ones.

I would say that if your place is that windy then a wooden fence is not feasible. You will need something that will filter the wind rather than get the full blast of it.

I would say that there is nothing to lose in transplanting one of your Privet hedges and seeing how they do. If it's still alive and healthy looking after a month then it will probably be ok.

I would strongly advise you to think very carefully about planting a large area of a voracious tree like the Leylandii ... it requires a huge amount of work to keep it under control. Plus, the thing is poisonous, so unless you want an itchy rash / blisters on all exposed areas several times a year, you will need to cover up well every time you cut them / go near them.

Ary.

TBH, Wombat, if you're not a gardener you're not going to be able to spot whether the thing currently in there is a leylandii or a rare, charming slow-growing conifer! Best to ask the bloke how often to trim it.

Be aware that legislation was introduced last year that means you could get fined if you fail to kjeep your leylandii hedge undeer prpoer control!

See here;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4596685.stm

........and don't even think about planting russian vine. It grows like wildfire, it strangles everything, and once you've got it in your garden, nothing short of Agent Orange will get it out again. It grows back from the tiniest rootlet.

Leylandii are ghastly naff plants that simply scream "no taste!!!!!". Horrible, horrible, horrible......

Look at the view from Brian Singleton's garden!

And that hedge is trimmed! Need a big ladder and a lot of time to do that.

Still, Brian looks happy pottering about in his privets!

quote:

Originally posted by stateofplay:
Look at the view from Brian Singleton's garden!

And that hedge is trimmed! Need a big ladder and a lot of time to do that.

Still, Brian looks happy pottering about in his privets!

If I had boundary hedges that big, I'd be WELL HAPPY! That's QUALITY!

All these people moaning about loss of light, what a load of rubbish. They're only annoyed because they can't see what their neighbours are doing anymore and can't stick their oars in to things that don't concern them.

R