Where one earth are buying your plants? £600 for 8 Pittosporums!
You do realise you don't have to pay anything like that for any plant you decide to buy? They'd only be that price if they'd been grown in a particular way for a long time - ie pruned and clipped into a bonsai/topiary sort of style. There are various Euonymous which many people have recommended for that sort of situation. They're a good alternative to box. Green Spire is one variety. Ordinary old Privet would do the job. Ilex crenata is another one. All good hedging suppliers will have them. They can be bought as hedging plants which is far cheaper than a GC.
@StephenSouthwest - I do hope so. Until recently I had two really healthy looking Pittosporum Golf Ball in pots that I bought last spring. I thought one had been wind burnt but on further inspection it had been attacked by vine weevil. Am currently giving it a chance to recover in a fresh pot and new compost but it doesn't half look poorly. Good luck with yours @gp5WOz2-5N
@gp5WOz2-5N Euonymous Jean Hughes, E Green Rocket there are various and all very similar. At Blue Diamond Garden Centres £25.00 each cone shape. These are mature plants slow growing. A nurseryman has cared for them for many years hence the price. As I have mentioned evergreens on a roof are vulnerable.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
At local nurseries (and online but I won't be going that route) Pittosporum's at the minimum size we would need to provide instant privacy (even this would be too small) are at least £85 each. That's actually £680 total. I paid £60 per plant 10 years ago. Maybe Fairygirl you are considering weenie ones like the ones I saw in 1 litre pots today, but they were £20! (OK it was Wisley).
I'm now considering continuing the run of hedges that I have along the adjoining wall (the original photo shows part of one) instead of Pittasporum. I have to fight off box caterpillar each year since last year, so I would go for an alternative version as suggested.
No - good nurseries offer decent sized hedging plants at a good price. You must live in a very pricey area! Not sure why you won't use online suppliers though - there are lots of very, very good ones which many people on the forum have used.
However, if that was my site, I'd put in trellis and grow climbers instead. Much quicker if you're wanting something more instant, the trellis itself would be a decent screen, and you'd only need one plant per container. The containers aren't very deep for decent hedging plants or shrubs anyway, so they're always going to struggle more without a lot of help.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
It's a South West facing flat roof on the first floor of a Victorian Villa. Trellis would look awful. I have to consider what it will look like from the outside.
-Pot up your stumps in the hope they might shoot from the base
-Either extend the planters or replace them - if you want to grow a hedge of any variety you'll need enough rootspace, otherwise you're just throwing money away
-Put in a trellis or netting or similar as a temporary (year or possibly two) measure
-Plant annual climbers to give you privacy till your hedge grows, eg; runner beans, nasturtiums, oca etc
You might find other hedging plants might give you less of a thinning at the base problem in your particular situation, I wonder about beech for example?
I agree with a lot of what you've said @StephenSouthwest, especially the root depth and using beech or similar. Hedging whips are inexpensive, can be planted pretty densely, and are mostly very easy and very tough.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
You do realise you don't have to pay anything like that for any plant you decide to buy? They'd only be that price if they'd been grown in a particular way for a long time - ie pruned and clipped into a bonsai/topiary sort of style.
There are various Euonymous which many people have recommended for that sort of situation. They're a good alternative to box. Green Spire is one variety. Ordinary old Privet would do the job. Ilex crenata is another one. All good hedging suppliers will have them. They can be bought as hedging plants which is far cheaper than a GC.
Here's one very good outlet, and there are plenty of others
https://www.hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk/
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Until recently I had two really healthy looking Pittosporum Golf Ball in pots that I bought last spring. I thought one had been wind burnt but on further inspection it had been attacked by vine weevil.
Am currently giving it a chance to recover in a fresh pot and new compost but it doesn't half look poorly. Good luck with yours @gp5WOz2-5N
At Blue Diamond Garden Centres £25.00 each cone shape. These are mature plants slow growing. A nurseryman has cared for them for many years hence the price. As I have mentioned evergreens on a roof are vulnerable.
However, if that was my site, I'd put in trellis and grow climbers instead. Much quicker if you're wanting something more instant, the trellis itself would be a decent screen, and you'd only need one plant per container.
The containers aren't very deep for decent hedging plants or shrubs anyway, so they're always going to struggle more without a lot of help.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hedging whips are inexpensive, can be planted pretty densely, and are mostly very easy and very tough.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...