seeking advice on planting bare root hedge

countrywoman

i have decided to buy bare root laurel hedging after much thought!

i have a large area to plant up. i need approx 300 plants.

i had planned to dig individual holes for each plant but now i'm wondering how i will manage to keep the grass cut between the plants as the plants are growing?
i have lots of mypex. would it work if i planted the plants in individual holes, then place the mypex around the plants. that would mean that the mypex would be placed the whole length of the hedge...can i put this on top of the grass that is there already,and maybe put some bark mulch or something on top.

would really appreciate some advice or guidance........or help with digging!!

redser7

Hi, you would be better off digging a trench instead of individual holes. Sounds like more digging but actually will be easier for you and the roots will apreciate the free run. Mark out the trench using 2 lengths of string stretched between poles or bamboo and get digging. You could strip off the couple of inches of grass sod, leave it to one side and if you go deep enough turn the sods upside down in the bottom of the trench. Then add some rotted manure if you can get some, or else compost to the bottom of the hole and also some bone meal. Take out any large rocks from the soil you dug out then pop in the plants backfilling as you go. Carefully but firmly heel them in with your foot and give them plenty of water. You can mulch around the stems with your grass clippings (if they have had no chemical treatment), they will appreciate the nitrogen and that should help keep back weeds and conserves water. Or using mypex and bark as you said. But give a good watering before you lay it down.

secman

Hi there,
When we planted our hedge, 77 meters long, it was very very difficult to keep the grass down, in the end we bit the bullet and scrubbed out all the grass and put down bark mulch, tons of it , think we used 3 No. 1 ton bags of bark. Have to say the hedge came on a treat after that, the growth was much more noticable. Prior to that the young hedge was being smothered by the grass. Its impossible to trim it with a strimmer, more damage to hedge than its worth.
It would be much much easier to do the bark mulch while doing the planting, as it was much more difficult doing it 18 months later.

Secman

paddy147

countrywoman wrote: »

i have decided to buy bare root laurel hedging after much thought!

i have a large area to plant up. i need approx 300 plants.

i had planned to dig individual holes for each plant but now i'm wondering how i will manage to keep the grass cut between the plants as the plants are growing?
i have lots of mypex. would it work if i planted the plants in individual holes, then place the mypex around the plants. that would mean that the mypex would be placed the whole length of the hedge...can i put this on top of the grass that is there already,and maybe put some bark mulch or something on top.

would really appreciate some advice or guidance........or help with digging!!

Pics say more than words.

Mypex installed and then individual holes cut out for the plants.Bark mulch as covering (great for keeping the soil moist and prevents soil from drying out too fast)
Bare root hornbeams,planted with multi stem birch tree,baux balls,and some low level plants.Oh and lots of 1 meter tall Alliums too.:)

Put in some fertiliser pellets and some compost as you plant each bare root hedge/whip.Then they will fly.Water them every day or 2 and do not let the soil dry out.Also water the ground around where the hedging will be,as this will encourage the roots to spread out looking for the water,and this will anchor the hedge down beter and make it more sturdy too.

Squiggle

I have sown about about 230 metre of bare root hedging over the last ten years including hornbeam, photinia and griselinia, all of which are now mature hedges. I have always sprayed the area first with Gallup or Touchdown. Dig individual holes and when you're putting in the hedge plant throw in some Moss Peat along with the clay. Keep the plants well watered and until the hedge becomes established spray the grass and weeds around and between the plants with Gallup or Touchdown - about once or twice a year should suffice.

countrywoman

thanks a million redser, secman, paddy and squiggle
great advice and ideas

i think i will dig the area out, and put bark mulch around it.
squiggle...you sound like you have done loads of work in your graden, my area is fairly new, trying to do it all bit by bit.

squiggle -when you say you sprayed between the plants, does the grass go yellow? because i dont think i'd like that for my area (its my front garden)...as hard as digging is, i think i'll opt for that.