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Questions/sanity check on hornbeam hedge plan
contact76804
Posts: 5
Hi everyone,
I've ordered 700 60/90cm bare root hornbeam whips that are due next month and have a few questions/would be great if someone could look over my plan.
For context, our garden is an old paddock and adjacent to other paddocks. We're wanting to plant the hedge across two of the fence lines, in an L shape which is approximately 50m in each direction.
We're planning on planting 7 per metre in a double staggered row, with 30cm spacing between.
The fence is 1.2m high rail and post and long grass can grow through from the other side - would tacking some weed fabric to the fence be a sensible idea? My partner is worried it might not be the prettiest but I'm hoping that would quickly vanish once the hedge was established.
My plan was to dig a trench 90-100cm wide, with the first row starting 30cm from the fence. Does this seem enough, or would 45/60cm be better? We have around 1.4m from the fence to the living room window so would prefer to keep it thinner at the start if possible.
Beyond the bottom paddocks, there's an elevated road and we're particularly overlooked from a layby. Ideally, I'd like the hedge to be bushy and grow to around 3m in height - I've seen posts mentioning hornbeam can struggle to retain winter leaves when over 10ft so keen to do everything I can to encourage a healthy hedge that retains leaves.
Planning on pruning twice a year after the growth spurts. Do I need to be careful when pruning the leading shoots? Keen that the whole hedge spreads out, but ultimately grows to the desired height.
I've got rootgrow and bonemeal for when we plant the hedge. Do you think it's worth adding compost as well? I've seen mixed thoughts on this with some others saying the ground will drop.
To water and retain moisture I'm looking at applying a layer of mulch and setting up a leaky hose. When looking at options, I've got concerns about the length of the run I'd need (50m + 50m). Would using a splitter and then running say 3 30m runs be a better idea? (30m leaky hose, 30m regular attached to 30m leaky hose, 60m regular attached to 30m leaky hose)
Thanks in advance - I just want to make sure we do everything possible to have a healthy hedge and get some much needed privacy.
Assuming it all goes well, we may install more along the other fence side - though that side is definitely more shaded with various trees and a potential garage to be installed.
I've ordered 700 60/90cm bare root hornbeam whips that are due next month and have a few questions/would be great if someone could look over my plan.
For context, our garden is an old paddock and adjacent to other paddocks. We're wanting to plant the hedge across two of the fence lines, in an L shape which is approximately 50m in each direction.
We're planning on planting 7 per metre in a double staggered row, with 30cm spacing between.
The fence is 1.2m high rail and post and long grass can grow through from the other side - would tacking some weed fabric to the fence be a sensible idea? My partner is worried it might not be the prettiest but I'm hoping that would quickly vanish once the hedge was established.
My plan was to dig a trench 90-100cm wide, with the first row starting 30cm from the fence. Does this seem enough, or would 45/60cm be better? We have around 1.4m from the fence to the living room window so would prefer to keep it thinner at the start if possible.
Beyond the bottom paddocks, there's an elevated road and we're particularly overlooked from a layby. Ideally, I'd like the hedge to be bushy and grow to around 3m in height - I've seen posts mentioning hornbeam can struggle to retain winter leaves when over 10ft so keen to do everything I can to encourage a healthy hedge that retains leaves.
Planning on pruning twice a year after the growth spurts. Do I need to be careful when pruning the leading shoots? Keen that the whole hedge spreads out, but ultimately grows to the desired height.
I've got rootgrow and bonemeal for when we plant the hedge. Do you think it's worth adding compost as well? I've seen mixed thoughts on this with some others saying the ground will drop.
To water and retain moisture I'm looking at applying a layer of mulch and setting up a leaky hose. When looking at options, I've got concerns about the length of the run I'd need (50m + 50m). Would using a splitter and then running say 3 30m runs be a better idea? (30m leaky hose, 30m regular attached to 30m leaky hose, 60m regular attached to 30m leaky hose)
Thanks in advance - I just want to make sure we do everything possible to have a healthy hedge and get some much needed privacy.
Assuming it all goes well, we may install more along the other fence side - though that side is definitely more shaded with various trees and a potential garage to be installed.
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Posts
I think you've got all the bases covered, but I would think long and hard about the weed suppressing fabric. In my experience it frays like mad .... especially if you would need to cut it.
Good luck with your project.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
I have used it but sewed a hem on the cut side.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Glad what I've suggested sounds sensible. Managed to find a few leaky irrigation systems with timed zones and higher diameter pipe to allow longer runs which sounds promising.
Regarding the membrane - I was planning on just using mulch under the hedges. It's the gaps in the fence I was worried about and the long grass growing through from the other side (similar to pic below)
My plan was to staple some fabric of some kind onto the fence itself (not on the ground) to stop the grass coming through to our side and compete with the hedge.
There'll be 30cm clearance between the back row and fence still, just thought the grass poking through wouldn't be ideal/it'd drop on the mulch when cut.
Please do let me know if this seems over the top, as it would be a decent amount of work given some sides we have the T-side of the fence!
Is it your land the other side of the fence? If not, that is another reason to allow a bit more room between the fence and the hedge.
Our hedge provided a windbreak too for the garden. Eventually the deer discovered it and started eating the lower part, which rather spoilt the look. I hope you don't have deer.
Unfortunately it's not our land on the other side.
Do you think 45cm/60cm clearance from the fence would better? Not enough to mow (which is why we were thinking the fabric), but want to make sure hedge has enough room to grow to a good size. Once it's larger we'd be able to trim from neighbours side.
There's only a 1.4m gap from the fence to the start of our living room window so keen to try and keep the hedge within this gap, towards the house at least. Though we want to try and encourage it to be hard to see through so sounds like a juggling act - just hope it's realistic.