Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Transplanting 70 metres of hedge, help!

2

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You can heel them in somewhere as I said earlier, if you can't plant straightaway  :)
    They're fine as long as they don't dry out.

    That's a good excavation @Lyn :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Remember that @lyn lives in a very wet part of the country …. probably didn’t need to do much watering in. That certainly wouldn’t work in most of East Anglia 😉 

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





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    The hedging is old, it’s probably been cut several times and the roots will be deep,  there should be enough moisture in  ground that far down for them to take.
    you would need a lot of water to water a hedge that long and sometimes that can do more harm than good. 
    70 mts of hedging is a lot to water. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Wren10 said:
    Thank you, I will take a look. That sounds like really good value. Do I need to plant as soon as they are delivered? 

    Planting as soon as you get your whips would be the best way to go as it is bad to let the roots dry out and it will give them more time to settle in the ground before starting to produce leaves in spring. I made a few videos of my own hedge planting with hawthorn and hornbeam here and it is now a fairly good barrier and may get its first mechanical trimming this year when the local contractor with his tractor mounted hedge cutter is about over winter. Making sure the place you are putting your hedge is cleared of weeds before planting makes looking after the young hedge a lot easier, as the small plants will be slower to establish if they get too much competing grass, doc leaf and nettle competition.
    Happy gardening!
  • Wren10Wren10 Posts: 8
    Thanks for the other website recommendations 👍 @lyn if I could make that work it would be perfect, although I don't fancy having to pull out a dead  hedge and starting again if it didn't . How big was the section your husband moved? 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Not sure, but it would be expensive if you don’t have a JCB.  Not a job you could do by digging,  the cheapest way would be whips in the autumn/winter but it will take a few years to get to the size of the one you have there.  I’m sure that hedge has been there a good few years. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    edited October 2021
    Wren10 said:
    Great, I will plan for getting it all done in January. Thank you so much for your help, I'm clueless! I didnt even know about planting bare root balls, learning as I go. No livestock will be in the field for a few years. The field is a recent purchase so has cows in atm. If we plant a bare root hedge how long does it take for it to grow big enough to become a full barrier again, it will probably be a mixed hedge but mainly hawthorn.
    As to how long a newly planted hedge takes to become a proper hedge: I would say about five years, although of course it will get a little better each year. The usual thing is to put a sheep wire fence in at the same time as planting the hedge. 

    I agree with the above comments about not trying to move the existing hedge; it's too well established. 

    I've used Hedges Direct and found them good; both good plants and good value. I've also used this company and this mixed hedge bundle was very good and a great selection:  https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/mixed-hedging-hawthorn-base-p126    

    Edit: For a mixed hedge it is good to go for 50% hawthorn and the remained of other native species which is pretty much what best4hedging does.  I have no connection with either of these companies except as a past customer.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Wren10Wren10 Posts: 8
    Amazing, thank you all so much for your help. I will take on board your advice and buying tips 👍
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Don't be tempted to buy bigger specimens - they're harder to establish, and usually benefit from being cut back anyway, so it's a bit pointless  ;)
    Around 3 feet is ideal.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    @Wren10,

    My OH has just suggested that you could think about cutting the centre part of the old hedge away to make an entrance into the new piece of ground and still plant a new hedge from whips where you want it. Might save a lot of effort, maintains most of the old hedge for the wildlife and you'd have something to look at whilst the new hedge is growing.
    Just a thought.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
Sign In or Register to comment.