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New Beech Hedge

Planted in november. Only half have shown green leaves. Is it still too early for the new plants? 

Posts

  • Sam76Sam76 Posts: 151
    Any suggestions welcome...
  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,295
    Hello @Sam76,

    I would have expected them all to be in leaf by now.
    When planting any new hedge from bare root plants you can get some which don't come away  .... so always worth buying a few extras and potting them up so you can fill any gaps.

    Continue to water and feed them ... but you might want to lift one or two of the ones you think might have died and see what's happening with the roots. If they look OK then pop them back in.

    Going forward you probably have 2 options.
    You could buy some more plants in the autumn, pot them up, and use them to replace any that are obviously dead.
    Or ... you could find a mature beech tree locally and collect some of the beech mast.
    Put them in a bucket of water ... any that float are not viable seed. If they drop to the bottom they are OK.
    Then you can try growing some replacement plants for free .... some info. here.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QJqwEbwhXw

    Maybe do both ... if you manage to grow the seeds you can use the little plants to thicken your hedge up.

    Good luck,
    Bee x
     image

    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • Sam76Sam76 Posts: 151
    Thanks Bee witched
  • Sam76Sam76 Posts: 151
    edited July 2020
    Update: 90 were planted. 45 are showing green leaves but a further 25 are green when I scratch the stem near the ground. So should have 70 alive plants, which isn't so bad a return. I'll just have to be patient :).
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