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Yet more shrubs in this hedge?

ManderMander Posts: 349
in Garden design
This is my back hedge as of today. I think I have mentioned before that it was hugely overgrown and I have been hacking it down in stages. It's looking a bit bare now, and everything in it is deciduous anyway so it will be losing the rest of its leaves soon. I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to add some evergreen shrubs to the mix.

I roughly transplanted some bits of the ivy that was creeping under the patio slabs, but it has never seemed to grow much so it only adds a little bit of greenery. There are also a viburnum, aucuba, photinia, and a euonymus currently lurking in pots that don't have a permanent home. Would it be a mistake to plant them in between the existing plants? And if not would it matter which ones go where? 

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I think it needs cutting down by at least half its height ... that way will stimulate a lot of growth from lower down and it’ll really thicken up. 
    It won’t take long for it to regain plenty of height, but this time instead of being straggly and spindle growth it’ll be thicker and greener. 
    Give the base a feed of Gish Blood and Bone in the spring, followed by a good watering and mulching with some organic matter and it’ll soon perk up. 
    😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I think Dove is right but would add at least one of your evergreens to the mix, mainly to provide more shelter for the birds but also to give you something green to look at during the winter. There doesn't look much space though so I wouldn't plant all of them. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • ManderMander Posts: 349
    It definitely needs more cutting but I can only get rid of the branches by putting them in the green bin, and that is only picked up every two weeks and not at all during winter, and we missed two months because of covid. So I have been cutting it down gradually.

    If I only put one or two of the shrubs in, which ones do you think would be best? 
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