How to plant whips

cocoman

I am contemplating planting a hedge in the next few weeks and am looking for some advice.
It’s a fairly exposed, well drained site so I would be hoping to plant a Beech hedge – ok?
To minimise costs I would be looking at bare root whips – is now a good time of the year to plant these or have I missed the boat?
I have read that for bare root plants it would not be necessary to dig individual holes or a trench for the plants. Would I get away with the following “The quick method for bare roots is to just dig a large spade into the soil (go as deep as possible), push the spade and soil away from you to expose a hole in the ground, pop the bare root into the hole, release the spade and firm in. This method is suitable for fertile, moist soil which has already been weed-treated.”
For weed protection can I just get a couple of tonne of wood chip/bark and place it along the line of hedging – about a foot either side of the hedge.
In relation to wind protection how much roughly would the green mesh windbreak cost? I would need approx 40 meters (4 ft high).
Thanks.

pinky 06

Hi, you still have time to plant whips. The technique you described for planting is fine. Please remember that some of the whips wont survive and you'll more than likely have to replace a few the following year.

cocoman

pinky 06 wrote: »

Hi, you still have time to plant whips. The technique you described for planting is fine. Please remember that some of the whips wont survive and you'll more than likely have to replace a few the following year.

Thanks Pinky

Whacker paddy

Dip the bare root whips in a bucket with compost and water mix for about 5 minutes before planting. Mix should be consistent enough for it to stay lightly on roots. This will nourish the roots. The windbreaker should cost approx €1.50 per metre length. Best way to put it upis to nail 2 by 1 lengths of treated lats on to fence or post. Then line up windbreaker and nail another 2 by 1 over it. I did it this way on a very exposed site about 6 years ago and it never budged. Good luck.

cocoman

Whacker paddy wrote: »

Dip the bare root whips in a bucket with compost and water mix for about 5 minutes before planting. Mix should be consistent enough for it to stay lightly on roots. This will nourish the roots. The windbreaker should cost approx €1.50 per metre length. Best way to put it upis to nail 2 by 1 lengths of treated lats on to fence or post. Then line up windbreaker and nail another 2 by 1 over it. I did it this way on a very exposed site about 6 years ago and it never budged. Good luck.

Thanks. Some good advice there.

boatbuilder

Also I would get the smallest whips that you can - they will be easier to plant and will grow faster and need less staking if on an exposed site.
I'm in the middle of planting 400 Italian Alder, silver birch and hornbeam and I'm using the T slot technique....works really well even in fairly stony ground.
To get the best value, get your whips directly from a nursery rather than a garden centre - there are lots of them in the Kilkenny area for some reason - thats where I got mine.

magicbastarder

there's a simple way of doing it which is to create a vertical cut in the ground with the spade (i.e. just stand on the spade and drive it downwards), and then do the same with a second cut - but the second cut will form the top of a T in relation to the first. pull the spade back, and it will open up the first cut; drop the bare root in, and firm down.