Hedge

jomalone14 wrote: »

Look for Portuguese laurel, easier to keep maintained than common laurel. Fantastic hedge. I planted bare root plants about 4-5 years ago. Spaced them 1.5ft apart and I've now got a lovely 4ft high thick hedge which I only trim once a year.

I mixed in chicken meal and a small amount of rotted manure into the soil when planting them. Kept them well watered for the first year.

+1 on the Portuguese laurel being a better option than the cherry/common laurel in your situation. The leaves on the cherry laurel are bigger and could mean trimming to just 4ft. high might not look the best at times. If you have reasonably good soil I don't think anything in particular needs to be added to the ground before planting. Posted a video clip of a newly planted Portuguese laurel flowering last summer. For winter flowers viburnum tinus also makes a good choice for a making a hedge.

jomalone14 wrote: »

Look for Portuguese laurel, easier to keep maintained than common laurel. Fantastic hedge. I planted bare root plants about 4-5 years ago.

Where did you get the bare root Portuguese laurel, I have only ever seen the potted version which of courses is dearer.

Squiggle wrote: »

Where did you get the bare root Portuguese laurel, I have only ever seen the potted version which of courses is dearer.

I think I got them in Flynn’s nurseries in Summerhill.

Squiggle wrote: »

Where did you get the bare root Portuguese laurel, I have only ever seen the potted version which of courses is dearer.

They are listed here at Fermoy woodlands nursery as bare root plants.

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Lads I'm going to buy 15 of these tomorrow , someone told me to hold off till March as frost will kill them , is it definitely ok to plant this time of year ?

Frost can damage exposed roots so if you're planting them make sure not to leave air pockets or parts of the root exposed where the frost could cause damage. Roots should naturally be in soil so if you are buying plants bare root they should be planted straight away so they don't dry out. Being well planted in the soil would protect the roots from the frost so I'm not sure why you would wait until March. I have heard of (healing in) covering the roots of bare root plants temporarily in some soil when the ground might be frozen solid so they don't dry out but I don't see any sign of the ground being frozen solid at the moment.

B00536518 wrote: »

Hello guys

really new to this '( so hope im doing this right')

just wanted to check if anyone knows about any pricing for potted hedging plants in Ireland ,some of the prices seem exorbitant tbh, seen prices for laurel, portuguese laurel etc in excess of 6-7 euro

then was speaking to friends that got laurel bushy plants 2 litre potted. for 2.50 euro seem like cracking plants

just wondering how much difference there can be seems mental

People will price things to make a profit and will charge what people are willing to pay. One factor can be the difference between getting them from a nursery versus a garden centre which is like getting something from a wholesaler who generally only sells in bulk orders and does not need to invest in an expensive retail space as opposed to a retailer who would need to have a higher margin to cover costs. If you are getting something from a retailer you are contributing towards the upkeep of the business in the same way as a pint in a pub is more than a can of beer in the supermarket. You also might be comparing young hedge plants with ones that have been grown on for a number of years which costs money. Each year a plant is kept growing in a pot it needs to be cared for and something fast growing like a hedge plant probably needs to be re-potted as well. There is also the economy of scale element with the size of hedge plant available for 2.50 being possibly sold in overall quantities of thousands or more by a big nursery while the larger more expensive plants which you mention would be sold in much smaller numbers and so require a higher price just to make the effort of producing them profitable. I would say if you have the time to look after them and the patience to let them grow the smaller cheaper hedge plants are usually a better option. I think most of the larger hedge plants are only sold as single plants to fill in gaps where an older hedge may have had a few plants fail. I have bought a few of the older dearer ones to have a more immediate impact but they can also be more susceptible to wind and in my experience are mostly not worth the extra money.