Getting read for Spring – planning a hedge
The soil should be as uniform as possible and have the same depth and quality along the line of the hedge. This is to ensure all the plants in the hedge grow at a similar rate, bearing in mind that if you plant a mixed hedge, the plants will have different growth rates anyway. Improve the ground with well-decomposed manure, or peat compost.
Remember that a hedge you plan to keep trimmed will take up less space than a free-growing one and bear this in mind when you choose your plants. You will need three to four plants per metre length, depending on which type of shrub you choose. For example, privet and Spiraea japonica should be placed closer together than whitebeam and lilac which have a more lax growth.
Set your hedge out in Spring or Autumn when the plants are resting. Spring planting is preferable in northern England and Scotland.
Spacing for most hedging plants is one to two feet, so if a hedge three feet thick or more is required, you will need to plant a double, staggered row with spacing of three feet within the row and a foot and a half between rows.
- Don’t dig a long trench when you are setting out hedge plants. You should begin with one hole, insert the plant, and fill the hole with soil from the next hole you dig.
- Feed in Spring when leaves form to achieve an even growth. Repeat every Spring with a top-dressing of well balanced fertiliser. Mulch the base of each plant to retain soil moisture.
- If you set out the hedge in Spring the plants should be pruned straight away, but if planting takes place in Autumn, pruning should be delayed until next Spring. Prune down to six to nine inches, which will encourage the plant to branch low down. Otherwise your hedge will be thin at the bottom.
- Higher than one metre - hawthorn, hornbeam, yew, privet, whitebeam.
- Lower than one metre - hornbeam, Berberis sempervirens, alpine currant, and red (dwarf) berberis.
The hedge should be narrower at the top to allow light to reach the lower branches. A badly managed hedge, which grows wider at the top, will shade the light from the lower branches, causing them to become bare.
Hedge photograph by michale, used under a creative commons attribution licence.
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