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Complete Beginner
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Posted by nickgb (My Page) on Sun, Apr 23, 06 at 16:10
| OK,
I'm a complete beginner to gardening. I want to establich a hedge to screen noise and provide privacy. I have heavy clay soil and wonder whether I can plant connifers. If not, what else could I plant which will develop reasonable height quite quickly?
Any advice greatly appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Complete Beginner
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| Hedges are not so great at blocking noise. You might want to stick in a solid fence as well. Evergreens might be best for year-round privacy, but consider a dense deciduous hedge for a lot more choice. Conifers are not the best choice if you have a soil that gets waterlogged. Consider holly for wet soils, not particulary fast growing though. Some conifers are better than others in heavy soil. Noble Fir comes to mind, not sure if you want a hedge of it, though, but even then not so good in waterlogged soil. Ask for a recommendation at the conifer forum if you decide that's what you want. |
RE: Complete Beginner
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| Noble Fir? Does that mind being clipped? You should plant a yew hedge. It is the perfect hedging plant, by anyone's standardsm and grows in any conditions. |
RE: Complete Beginner
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| Same as almost any conifer, can be trimmed but will not regrow if you cut past the green growth. Yew is one of the few exceptions, you can chop it back as hard as you like. But I've had a much better idea. Thuja. Prefers wet soil and tolerates heavy clay better than probably any other conifer. Grows fast, a very good alternative to Leylandii. |
RE: Complete Beginner
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| Isn't yew very slow-growing, Simon? I agree though, it would be my favourite out of all the ones mentioned above. Nick, whatever you do, don't go the Leylandii route. Ghastly nasty things, and guaranteed to upset the neighbours. I inherited some in my previous garden, and had to clip them back all the time to keep the old lady below happy (in the flat below, not below the Leylandii. That would have been preferable). |
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