Fast growing hedges?

[loella]

Help, we have cut back an old hedge as it was not in the peak of health, as a result we have lots of gaps...we need to plant something to fill the gaps that is fast growing and not too prohibative cost wise.

Any suggestions and from where?

Annie

 

 

[Tresco]

What is the old hedge made of Annie?

[Hoddy]

....... and where are you ?

Hoddy

[loella]

Its made of  old firs I think!! and we live in the Marais Poitiven, dept 17, 35 kilometers east of La Rochelle.

Thanks

Annie

[Tresco]

If its all evergreen Firs I'd get more of the same/similar or some other evergreen hedging plant. I think if you fill the odd gaps in with deciduous plants it will look odd in the winter.

Eleagnous should grow really well there (has small but very pretty white flowers which come out mid to late spring)

Privet (although strangely some varieties are not evergreen here.

The ubiquitous but vigorous Laurel.

Even Pyracantha, which I think is much maligned will give flowers early to mid summer and then lovely red, orange, or yellow berries in the winter (I prefer the red).

These plants are all evergreen and readily available at Pepinieres or garden centres. I'm sure others will have more ideas.

It's not the best time of the year for planting hedges, so mulch them really well. They will have to be watered frequently (once it stops raining).

[Loiseau]

Yes, I'd go with Tresco's eleagnus suggestion!  We put a hedge of that in the Vendee, and from tiny sprigs it quickly grew into something taller than me (and a lot fatter!). We bought eleagnus ebbingii, which is evergreen, with silvery-green leaves that are paler on the underside. As Tresco says,  it has tiny white flowers in late summer - that may look insignificant but smell HEAVENLY.  I couldn't work out where the smell was coming from to start with.

It was a dense hedge in three years or so.

You can also get a variegated eleagnus.

Angela

[Tresco]

Still up Loiseau, and thanks for reminding me/us about the 'ebiningii' bit. It is exactly the species I was referring to.

Short term memory loss due to a miss spent youth meant I forgot about the scent. You're quite right, it is heavenly.

[Lori]

Yep - Eleagnous.  We planted about 45 tiny ones 3 years ago and

they are huge now.  And, yes, the smell the flowers offer is

magnificent.

[loella]

What a wealth of knowledge out there, thanks so much. I'm now wondering whether to now leave it till Autumn? Also, where are the best places to buy these 'trees'?

While I've got your attention, I'm in the process of 'chucking down' some grass seed in a largish strip of soil that has now become exposed since the old hedge has been cut back, gosh it's hard work and playing havoc with my poor old back. I've prepared the area (correctly as far as I know) and am now about to throw down the seed...as you've probably worked out by now, i'm a bit of a novice..any tips before I embark on this next stage, It looks like rain today and sunny the next 2 or 3 days.

With baited breath!!!

Annie

[Lori]

Annie - We are no where near you, but perhaps you have a similar marche

somewhere near you.  Out farmer neighbors told us about the

Eleagnouses and where to buy them.  It is a huge weekly market in

Carpentras that sells nothing but gardening things and plants,

trees.  We bought 45 Eleagnouses that were about a 90 cms tall and

not very thick, rather tiny looking for 1.45 euros each.  It was,

to me, dirt cheap.  When I had a look around Auchan, and the

gardening centers they were FAR higher than that (same variety). 

So, I guess you should ask around and look around. 

We are still amazed at how fast ours have grown and how lovely they are

- and for next to nothing.  Although I will tell you, being the

one that dug all those holes, it did take a bit of energy.

[Tresco]

[quote user="annie"]

. I'm now wondering whether to now leave it till Autumn? Also, where are the best places to buy these 'trees'?

[/quote]

Hi Annie.

If you are there all the time, and are able to keep watering them you will probably be OK

I'm also wondering if the fir trees that are there will have made the soil more acidic than the Eleagnous likes. That is something a real plantsperson coul probably answer.

The grass question I'll leave to someone who knows. I've only got weeds.

 

[Viv]

I always put a piece of plastic pipe in the same whole when I plant my thirsty plants. Then in the summer I can pour water down the bit of  tube which is left sticking out and it gets straight to the roots. I use the water from when I peel vegetables.

[vickybear]

Piggybacking this message.......hope you don't mind Annie?

We also need to plant 25 metres of fast growing hedge and like the sound of the current suggestions. Does anyone know of any weekly markets in South Charente / North Dordogne areas which sell plants such as these?

Many thanks

Shelagh

[Viv]

[quote user="vickybear"]

Piggybacking this message.......hope you don't mind Annie?

We also need to plant 25 metres of fast growing hedge and like the sound of the current suggestions. Does anyone know of any weekly markets in South Charente / North Dordogne areas which sell plants such as these?

Many thanks

Shelagh

[/quote]

I bought some privet hedging from  Bakker today, and it cost me about € 185 for 150 , including delivery , and free bucket of bulbs [Y]  for what you need it should cost  you about €40 .

[Alan Zoff]

Don't forget there is a downside to fast-growing firs: they keep growing - quickly - and require a lot of maintenance.

I am busy trying to replace over 100 metres of fir hedge which no doubt started out as a nice, quick screen planted by the previous owner but is now a tall, inpenetrable barrier. It is extremely difficult to control, some of the branches being too hard work for a powerful petrol trimmer. And it produces a lot of waste to be disposed of each year when you do manage to cut through it. So I intend gradually replanting the lot with beech which will not be allowed to grow too big and will provide more colour variety than the firs. OK, not a quick fix but hopefully a better long-term proposition and perhaps more environmentally-friendly.