Weed fabric and rootgrow for new evergreen hedge?

Lumen

Quick question....

I'm not generally a fan of weed fabric in beds as it gets in the way of moving things around, but I'm just about to plant 70m of new hedge and it needs to be protected from competition. Have a lot of ivy under my older hedges and it's a PITA to get rid of once established.

Is weed fabric advised for this application? Assume I would just cut a cross-slit or small hole for each plant?

Also, Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi - worth it?

http://www.rootgrow.co.uk/bare-root-and-hedging.html

I've seen it recommended for bareroot but I'll be planting container-grown plants.

macraignil

Why are you trying to get rid of ivy from your hedges? I always have let it continue to grow where I can and find I need to do less weeding where this is successful. Hedge row plants are too vigorous to be out-competed by ivy. Ivy is adapted to grow under other plants in their shade and from what I have seen does not slow the growth of any of the cultivated plants in my garden. Ivy is said to be good ecologically as it provides food for insects and birds at a time when very little in the garden is productive. I have even planted ivy in places where I have wanted a low growing ground cover and previously done this in a commercial landscaping job I was an operative on.

Oldtree

What are you planting? I have a beech hedge and nothing grows under that now.

I didn't use any membrane or weedkiller or fertiliser when planting. I did however put grass clippings from the lawn in between the plants, not touching the plants, for a few years until I could do it no more.

There is a low stone wall to the front of the hedge and ivy is beginning to creep up the wall after 16 years.

Lumen

Eleagnus ebbingei and viburnum tinus.

I like the mulch idea although might have difficulty generating enough.

I guess what you're saying is that once the hedge is established it can outcompete or live in harmony with other plants, but I have other hedges and shrubs that I have to pull brambles and elder out of, and I don't fancy having to do that over 100+ metres of hedge. This 70m section is only the first phase.

Oldtree

Brambles are a whole other animal. other than digging them out, a dose of medicine (roundup) seems to be the only thing to control it. Have that issue in other hedges and there I view it as an effective stock barrier. Its trying to creep into the beech hedge from the side but I stay on top of that one.

celticbhoy27

macraignil wrote: »

Why are you trying to get rid of ivy from your hedges? I always have let it continue to grow where I can and find I need to do less weeding where this is successful. Hedge row plants are too vigorous to be out-competed by ivy. Ivy is adapted to grow under other plants in their shade and from what I have seen does not slow the growth of any of the cultivated plants in my garden. Ivy is said to be good ecologically as it provides food for insects and birds at a time when very little in the garden is productive. I have even planted ivy in places where I have wanted a low growing ground cover and previously done this in a commercial landscaping job I was an operative on.

Would second this, I have ivy growing under a Laurel hedge and it looks lovely. No weeding under it, I give it a bit of a trim with the secateurs to any parts that dangle onto the tarmac. It certainly doesn't compete with the Laurel, wouldn't be a bad thing if it did I wouldn't have to trim it as often

macraignil

Lumen wrote: »

Eleagnus ebbingei and viburnum tinus.

I like the mulch idea although might have difficulty generating enough.

I guess what you're saying is that once the hedge is established it can outcompete or live in harmony with other plants, but I have other hedges and shrubs that I have to pull brambles and elder out of, and I don't fancy having to do that over 100+ metres of hedge. This 70m section is only the first phase.

Viburnum tinus is starting to look good in the garden here at the moment with most of them starting to flower.

I agree Brambles are a problem in the garden. They spread far too vigorously to be allowed get established near cultivated plants and their thorns make management more difficult over time. I have grown a thorn-less variety for the fruit that is larger than the wild type but the wild bramble should definitely be kept out of the garden as far as possible. I do trim it back from where it tries to encroach from neighboring hedgerows but new plants do sprout from seed and need to be dug out before they grow bigger and more difficult to deal with. Their one weakness I have found is that they do not produce a very strong root system so if you can get under them with a fork even larger brambles can be levered out of the ground. Sometimes in hedgerows this can be difficult but it's better to do this sooner rather than after they have spread to form unmanageable clumps.

I do like elder and have planted some as they have nice flowers and the fruit is also useful. Growth is a bit irregular so just trimmed off the branches on one in the garden that was going a bit funny shaped to keep it going upright. I realise you might be going for a more uniform hedge with just the two species so elder might be more difficult to trim. I think it is a great addition to more diverse hedge planting though.