Best hedging for privacy

Hi folks,

I'm new to gardening having bought a house a while back so please excuse what may appear to be newbie questions

I have nearly an acre of a site and I want to put up hedging on 3 sides.

Here's what I want....

I want to use 2 different types of hedging so that its a broken pattern all around the border of the site.

I want something that isn't going to grow mental (leylandi) and wont grow above 6-8 feet fully mature.

Here's what I need to know...

1. What types of hedging would be best?
2. What kind of cost am I looking at?
3. How do I go about doing the planting?

For #3 I'm thinking of doing the following:
Rotovate the border out to 2 feet from fence, topsoil, lay the black weedproof stuff (dont know what its called), cut holes in it, plant and cover with bark or gravel or something like that

I really need help with 1 & 2 and would like to know if I'm on the right track with 3

Apanachi

We have a Thuja hedge, does the trick nicely (there are various types with slightly different shades of green)

shawnee

Beech hedging is probably one of the best looking hedges, though it is slow to establish. You could also try escallonia which is green and sometimes gives a little flower , quick to establish and makes a very solid hedge. Griselinia is a lovely light green but many of them have been damaged by severe frosts in last two years.
Cheapest way to plant an area that size is to wait till October/November and buy as bare rooted plants from a nursery. It is a little late to plant bare rooted at this time.:D

almighty1

shawnee wrote: »

Beech hedging is probably one of the best looking hedges, though it is slow to establish. You could also try escallonia which is green and sometimes gives a little flower , quick to establish and makes a very solid hedge. Griselinia is a lovely light green but many of them have been damaged by severe frosts in last two years.
Cheapest way to plant an area that size is to wait till October/November and buy as bare rooted plants from a nursery. It is a little late to plant bare rooted at this time.:D

Just to note that my mother and sister both lost Escallonia hedges in the last 2 winters. A beech hedge is nice but it doesnt give you much privacy during the winter as only some of the dead leaves stay on.

For privacy you really need an evergreen. Id suggest laurel




Pros:
Cheap
Evergreen
Quick to grow
Looks nice
Hardy

Cons:
Can get a bit wild if not maintained

Pinklady11

Hi there, like you i'm in the same situation as in trying to decide what hedges to plant around my property but after spending several hours searching through the internet i found this crowd that seem to have really good prices on their hedging.

http://www.futureforests.net/

Hope this is of some help to you.

prospect

My folks also lost a 15y.o. Escallonia hedge this winter.

We have a hornbeam hedge, very similar to beech but holds onto more leaves over the winter. only goes bare for a couple of weeks as the new leaves start to grow.


The trick to a lot of these hedges is to keep them cut low for a few seasons, this thickens out the base and then you can slowly allow it to reach your required height.

Nonmonotonic

Problem with laurel is that you have to prune rather than cut them because of the leaf size. I have an old Laurel hedge ( trees!) which I have to clip with a saw!

Is Box gone out of fashion?

Traonach

almighty1 wrote: »

Just to note that my mother and sister both lost Escallonia hedges in the last 2 winters. A beech hedge is nice but it doesnt give you much privacy during the winter as only some of the dead leaves stay on.

For privacy you really need an evergreen. Id suggest laurel




Pros:
Cheap
Evergreen
Quick to grow
Looks nice
Hardy

Cons:
Can get a bit wild if not maintained

A few more cons for laurel:
Non-native
Useless for wildlife
A highly invasive plant species in Ireland http://invasivespeciesireland.com/toolkit/best-practice-management/rhododendron-and-cherry-laurel

Why it isn't banned in this country I don't know

jezko

Traonach wrote: »

A few more cons for laurel:
Non-native
Useless for wildlife
A highly invasive plant species in Ireland http://invasivespeciesireland.com/toolkit/best-practice-management/rhododendron-and-cherry-laurel

Why it isn't banned in this country I don't know

There are few Evergreen native Suitable Hedging Plants in this country... and this plant fits the position quite well.. (Evergreen and Suitable for Pruning and Shaping). Most Plantations of Cherry Laurel have been neglected and allowed to run wild and as your Article states No Animals wishes to Eat it..

Have a Look into Privet (Green and Variegated) Semi Evergreen in a Mild Climate Position

Nonmonotonic

Traonach wrote: »

A few more cons for laurel:

Useless for wildlife

While I agree with the others, the above statement is not true ( at least in my case). I have plenty of nests in my Laurel (trees). More compact hedge might be a problem.



Hawthorn is native but I'm not sure I would like it as a house hedge.

Traonach

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

Hawthorn is native but I'm not sure I would like it as a house hedge.

Why???
It's a brillant hedge for native wildlife. It looks fantastic with it's beautiful white blossoms during the summer. It produces a great berry crop during the autumn. It tolerates heavy trimming. They do look better untrimmed growing wild intermixed with other native hedging plants.

Nonmonotonic

Traonach wrote: »

Why???

Its my opinion.

I think Laurel suites formal garden better. I believe there is an appropriate place for all plants (Laylandii excluded) after all a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. Your link to invasive species just confirms this (how many people have a Rhododendron in their garden?). In the same way that Laurel would be unsuitable where herbivores are due to the poisonous nature of the foliage. The picture I posted is a great ad for Hawthorn as hedging in a rural setting.

I do have a Spotted Laurel growing in my hedge wich I regard as a weed.

secman

We are situated in a rural area and have tried to keep the hedge a rural look hedge, but its not evergreen. It was initially Whitethorn and Field Maple, but now it has Holly, Crab Apple and Guelder Rose in it too. Basically filled in any gaps with the additional ones. At every 2nd post of the Stock Fence we have planted Silver Birch trees. The rest will be trimmed to a hegde height to the top of the Stock fence. Hasn't been the easiest hedge to grow, have had to cut it back severely over the last 3 winters to thicken the base up, should look at its best thus far this summer !


Secman

boodles

Dont go for Grisalinea (spelling?) We lost a full hedge last winter and had to dig the whole lot out in the last few weeks (pain) and if yo have cattle nearby, they love it!!!!. Have lleylandi on other side and cant beat it, you need to cut it twice a year and it looks great, not a major job and great privacy.......................:D

ATC110

Traonach wrote: »

A few more cons for laurel:
Non-native
Useless for wildlife
A highly invasive plant species in Ireland http://invasivespeciesireland.com/toolkit/best-practice-management/rhododendron-and-cherry-laurel

Why it isn't banned in this country I don't know

Traonach wrote: »

Why???
It's a brillant hedge for native wildlife. It looks fantastic with it's beautiful white blossoms during the summer. It produces a great berry crop during the autumn. It tolerates heavy trimming. They do look better untrimmed growing wild intermixed with other native hedging plants.

Good well-intended points made above and then:

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

Its my opinion.

I think Laurel suites formal garden better.

Essentially sod non-native, invasive species and nature. What suits me is the only consideration.

ATC110, sorry, dont follow

To everyone else, thank you so much for your feedback

If I was to go for bare-root hawthorn and plant now, about how many plant would I be looking for to go around 3 sides of a 1 acre box-shaped site?

Also, any ideas on cost per plant.

Lastly, as I stated in my first post, I have zero education in all things green & growing, so any tips on the planting & prep work for hawthorn would be greatly appreciated

This thread has proved the basis for many hours of discussions (see: arguments) between my partner and I. She is adament that we dont go for laurel and I'm wanted the easy way out. Ended up losing that one once she saw the pic of the hawthorn above (thanks for that Nonmonotonic :P)

breffni666

How quickly does the hawthorn grow. I've nosey neighbours who initially gave me permission to build a six foot wall but ran to the council as soon as it was built, looks like it has to come down. I've already planted laurel as a boundary but it is not growing quickly enough. What can I plant that will grow quickly to maintain privacy? 7ft+

paddy147

breffni666 wrote: »

How quickly does the hawthorn grow. I've nosey neighbours who initially gave me permission to build a six foot wall but ran to the council as soon as it was built, looks like it has to come down. I've already planted laurel as a boundary but it is not growing quickly enough. What can I plant that will grow quickly to maintain privacy? 7ft+

Why did they run to the council??

A boundary wall at the front of the house can be up to 1.2 meters high.

A boundary wall at the rear of the house can be 2 meters tall.

Thats the current planning laws/building regulations.

breffni666

The wall on the level ground between myself and my neighbour is 6"2". The garden at the front boundary slopes down to road level. I asked them if it was ok to build and they said fine. I built it to 6"0 stepped down so as to be in keeping with what we already had permission for. When we were putting capping on they told us to stop that it was too high even though they agreed to it first. They called council who told me to apply for retention as it was over the regulation 1.4m I think. Cost me €900 to apply for permission only for it to be rejected with it unlikely to be given on appeal. Need a motherf****r of a hedge!!! Angry today.

kylith

You could try Pyrocanthus. It's evergreen and the birds love the berries. It grows like stink though, and the thorns are wicked.

paddy147

Breffni...I think you are out of line in what you are saying and typing with regards the neighbours.

No need for that type of posting here.:(

You should have read up on planning laws and regs yourself 1st before just building a high front boundary wall.

You are just as much responsible and to blame,as you built the wall.


You should edit your last post,as theres no need for slanderous and foul mouthed comments like that.

PS-Front bounday wall height is 1.2 meters,with regards planning regs and laws.

Google it.

breffni666

paddy147 wrote: »

Breffni...I think you are out of line in what you are saying and typing with regards the neighbours.

No need for that type of posting here.:(

You should have read up on planning laws and regs yourself 1st before just building a high front boundary wall.

You are just as much responsible and to blame,as you built the wall.


You should edit your last post,as theres no need for slanderous and foul mouthed comments like that.

PS-Front bounday wall height is 1.2 meters,with regards planning regs and laws.

Google it.

They gave full permission, only went to council when they didnt like the finished article. Yes i know about the planning laws but we are on a private lane and not on an open road so i thought agreement between the parties involved would be enough. A lesson for everyone here, dont trust you neighbour.

wildlifeboy

dont mind Paddy, if i was you and had an agreement i would have done the same. slanderous comments indeed ...Paddy what are you on about? where has he mentioned where he lives? his neighbours names? eh no where. get off your high horse.

anyhoo i would recommend privet. I have now established a 40 foot hedge from cuttings i took 3 years ago but if you dont want to wait that long you can get established ones for fairly cheap. if you buy in bulk you should get them for 3 euro a pop planted a foot apart. 9 euro per metre aint bad is it? they fly up during the summer. mine gained over a foot this year but i cut them bac harshly because i want them to fill out at the base. i am cutting them in a conical shape to begin with to get the light to the base and once the base is established i will let them grow to to 6/7 foot.

Ophiopogon

wildlifeboy wrote: »

dont mind Paddy, if i was you and had an agreement i would have done the same. slanderous comments indeed ...Paddy what are you on about? where has he mentioned where he lives? his neighbours names? eh no where. get off your high horse.

anyhoo i would recommend privet. I have now established a 40 foot hedge from cuttings i took 3 years ago but if you dont want to wait that long you can get established ones for fairly cheap. if you buy in bulk you should get them for 3 euro a pop planted a foot apart. 9 euro per metre aint bad is it? they fly up during the summer. mine gained over a foot this year but i cut them bac harshly because i want them to fill out at the base. i am cutting them in a conical shape to begin with to get the light to the base and once the base is established i will let them grow to to 6/7 foot.

To be fair, I think something was written that has since been edited in Breffini's post.

paddy147

wildlifeboy wrote: »

dont mind Paddy, if i was you and had an agreement i would have done the same. slanderous comments indeed ...Paddy what are you on about? where has he mentioned where he lives? his neighbours names? eh no where. get off your high horse.

You were not here to read Breffnis full post...or WHERE YOU????? (prior to it being edited)

It contained some very foul language and some very nasty and baseless slanderous comments against the neighbours in question.

There was and is no need for posts like that here.:(

Buts the ofensive stuff has since been removed now,so thats better.

Also,you are not me and I would and do fully check out planning laws/building regulations 1st before I would go and build anything.Its called doing you're homework 1st,so it avoids any future fall out down the line,with neighbours or county councils.

I did this very recently myself with regards a neighbour.

I went and fully checked out the current "planning laws" and "building regulations",before I spoke to my neighbour over building boundary walls between our land.I then told her what the planning laws and regulations are,with regards to the wall heights,before she could even say a word back to me.

Wall built "legally" with no problems and both happy.

Well I am happy anyway.:)

delly

Paddy, if a post needs sorting report it, don't go down the back seat modding road please.

hbonbr

I want a growing screen, trees or shrubs to be 10 ft tall and evergreen. Climbers are not really an option as I need the plants to go above my garden wall. (I wonder would solanum support itself above the wall? )

Can I buy plants at or near that height.

It doesn't matter if they grow over ten feet.

Any suggestions?