Recommend a hedge

cheezums

I've about 25 metres of a fence I want to put a hedge up against. Looking for recommendations please for something fast growing, good for wildlife & privacy and to be able to get to a height of about 7-8 ft. Low maintenance is a bonus but not essential. I love the idea of blackthorn but heard it can be a nightmare to maintain.

Thanks!

Ginger83

Common laurel would grow fast. It's evergreen and hardy.

looksee

Which direction does the fence face? What kind of soil is it? Is this an urban or a rural situation? Is it a 5/6ft panel fence or a post and rail?

cheezums

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119265142#Comment_119265142

Fence runs east-west, 6 foot panel. Rural location. Soil is Deep well drained mineral (Mainly acidic).

looksee

So the hedge will be on the south facing side? I'd suggest putting in a mixed rural hedge of fruiting native trees and shrubs. There are some ideas here https://futureforests.ie/a/search/native-hedging?filter_collection=choose-your-own-native-wildlife-fruiting-hedge. Also check out the other collections on that site. A blackthorn hedge would be lovely in the spring but all blackthorn would be less interesting most of the rest of the year, though the fruit are very attractive, and difficult enough to manage, the thorns are savage. A few mixed into a mixed hedge would be fine.

If you want to clip the hedge you will get much less flowers and fruit, and you should look at their 'neat natural hedge' mix. Or you could choose just one of the suggested plants, but for variety, wildlife and interest I'd suggest a mix.

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119264684#Comment_119264684

Laurel is useless for wildlife though. We've one at home and it's a dead zone.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119264684#Comment_119264684

...and easily looked after, compared to some plants

cheezums

what about hazel? read about it just there, ticks all the boxes it seems.

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266573#Comment_119266573

So I thought as growing up a neighbour had one and as you said a dead zone. It was thick as bedamned though. In the house I bought there's one between me and the neighbour and it does be alive with songbirds. I've a laissez faire approach to cutting it though. Keep it tidy with a shave once a year but that's it.

looksee

Hazel would be nice, though it has a looser style of growth than some other trees. I can't remember whether bud burst is a bit late in the spring, maybe not. You could keep it coppiced, which means cutting it down to the very bottom every 4 years or so, giving a mass of long straight fast growing branches. It can be cut back into a hedge, but you will miss out on a lot of the nuts and catkins, imo it would be better left to grow fairly naturally. It will grow quite big though, which is why I suggest coppicing.

edit: bit of info here https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/hazel/#:~:text=A%20Common%20Hazel%20tree%20with,and%20soft%20to%20the%20touch.

Squiggle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266719#Comment_119266719

It won't give you privacy in the winter, nor will any deciduous or semi deciduous hedge plant.

jcon

+1 on Laurel. Once established it grows fairly quickly and is easy maintain

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266573#Comment_119266573

Bees love it and ours has lots of activity

wildwillow

Please don't plant Laurel. Far too much of it being used even on farm boudaries. It is the Leylandi of the future. Yes, its evergreen and grows well but it is very invasive unless well kept. It becomes very woody as it ages so you just have an outside cover of leaves. It's also just a boring green wall!!

Do plant a mixture of native hedging and include some evergreen. You will be rewarded with flowers and berries and lots of wildlife. Do your research and don't include very fast growing willow, for example. Splash out on a few fairly large holly. Don't keep it trimmed too evenly to enjoy the passing seasons.

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119268453#Comment_119268453

Well, it's a dead zone where I am. Nothing goes near it.

AgentCluedo

Coral Berry - strong dense and hardy evergreen hedge with white flowers in spring and red berries in autumn

AgentCluedo

Could not edit previous comment - Escallonia Hedging – Rubra macrantha is nice and good if in a coastal area. You don't want something that goes excessively woody

cheezums

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119267280#Comment_119267280

what about beech? does it hold it's brown leaves in winter?

standardg60

I'd go for cotoneaster, loads of varieties to choose, bees go mad for the flowers and birds for the berries.

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119268664#Comment_119268664

Yes a very nice hedge but expensive

macraignil

Beech does hold the dead leaves over winter but does so better if trimmed at the right time. Hornbeam is similar but does better than beech if the soil is a bit damp and seems to me to be a bit more robust. If you want a native hedge with thorns that are less severe than blackthorn white thorn is a good option. but like blackthorn it is not evergreen. Another option to consider might be Pyracantha. It has nice flowers in spring and berries that are good for feeding the birds and thorns that make it good for the hedge being impenetrable. Another option might be Berberis darwinii with more just prickly leaves rather than thorns but still good flowers for pollinators and berries for the birds, The Berberis flowers are longer lasting than the Pyracantha. If you would prefer to avoid the hedge being prickly or thorny another evergreen option I like is Cotoneaster franchetii which in spite of the flowers being not very big is very popular with pollinators and the berries are good for the birds as well.

Happy gardening!

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266573#Comment_119266573

Don't bees feed on the flowers though?

KaneToad

I have a laurel. It's full of birds!

I also have hornbeam. I've never managed to get it to keep brown leaves over winter - despite trimming it as recommended by gardeners online.

Furze99

My advice is don't use laurel in a rural setting, unless you want to have an out of context surburban look. There's a couple of newly built bungalows near us that have it and their owners wax on about how quickly it's grown when I stop to chat. I just cringe though looking at them, every time I go past.

We inherited a thick mixed hedge, along the lines that looksee recommends above - some beech, blackthorn, holly etc. and yes even has a couple of laurel in it! I cut fresh growth back twice a year to keep it to size.

Ros1234

I planted a double staggered row of beech 5 years ago and it keeps most of its leaves in the winter, I think the single rows won't keep their leaves if it's any bit exposed. I see some bee's around it, do they like the moisture from the leaves I wonder?

I also have a Portuguese laurel hedge, this was chosen as it's more aesthetic pleasing all year round but I don't think it’s great for the wildlife unfortunately.

I give the beech a light trim on the sides in early June and trim both in September, best of luck with picking your hedge type the mixed variety sounds like a great option.

Squiggle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119269367#Comment_119269367

It does indeed as does hornbeam, which I have myself. If privacy is important to you though those brown leaves in winter won't give it to you.

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266573#Comment_119266573

OP said good for wildlife and privacy. Almost any other plant hedging plant is better than laurel for biodiversity in Ireland. Try field maple if you want quick growth.

macraignil

Laurel on the edge of the garden here planted before I moved usually has birds in it and I've seen insects attracted to the early season flowers. I know the foliage is toxic but the fruit is said to be edible (reference) and I think the main problem with using cherry laurel in most gardens is that it has a tendency to grow too big too quickly. The ones on the edge of the garden here gets cut back at least a couple of times a year so they don't swamp the plants near to them. The directions from the county council here in Cork when the planing permission was given was that Leylandii and griselinia were the two hedge plants that were not to be used and I think this was due to both these being not very good for biodiversity and in my opinion more so than laurel. Field mapel would give quick growth but far too much vigorous growth for most people's liking in my opinion. There is one at the edge of my parents garden that is a persistent problem in terms of getting too big for its surroundings.

willabur

I have a narrow but long garden out the front of a terraced house in Baldoyle. Neighbours have just installed the ugliest bin boxes you would imagine. Not much we can do about that, they are not the most pleasant people in the world.

Going by this thread a laurel hedge on our north east facing garden would do the trick for us to block out the people next door and their dirty hedge?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266573#Comment_119266573

I hate these lazy generalizations.

Laurel hedges are great for certain birds to nest in. Aphids are partial to laurel so provide a plentiful food supply to aphid eaters. The flowers are a food source for many insects and the red/black berries food for certain birds.

A laurel hedge acts as a screen and a sound barrier, The hedge is easy to maintain. A good way to improve the value is to plant honeysuckle and or dog rose in front of or in between the plants. These will over time use the hedge to spread and grow within the hedge and provide enhanced attractiveness to wildlife and humans.

secman

We have a about 100 meters of hedge, a mixture of field maple, whitethorn, blackthorn, Holly, honeysuckle and a few climbing roses. It also has 11 birch trees spaced out nicely. Its that mature now that we get the neighbour to include it when he gets a contractor in to trim his hedges and ditches with the tractor. Absolutely full of wildlife but as I said above eventually too difficult to maintain yourself. But it only costs us €50 or so to get the neighbour to include it.