Are you embracing autumn?.. Leaves falling, colour changes, chills in the air, darker evenings, darker mornings… and also lots of planting?!
We have the perfect window right now, to plant pot grown trees, shrubs and hedges – the fundamentals of the garden landscape – and get roots well established, before that window passes us by. (Of course there’s always the brilliance of bare root options to tide us over during a sleepy winter, but that’s one for another day…) We’re big advocates of hardy hedging here at Trevena Cross – options that will really stand the test of time. So much so in fact, that we’ve been growing hardy hedging like Griselinia littoralis, in the thousands, for many years – and delivering our plants nationwide for a very long time. We have wonderful hedging plant stocks available in our nursery right now (wide range of sizes), ready to create endless hedges across the UK!
DID YOU KNOW? We don’t believe the height of our hedging plants to be of huge importance when we make them available for sale. In fact we trim all of our hedging plants several times a year to promote a bushy plant, that will be ready to form a decent hedge right away. Height isn’t everything – while a 2 litre plant could easily be 1m tall without trimming, this ‘leggy’ specimen wouldn’t be the kind of plant that you want for a hedge. A trimmed one with multiple shoots, will establish as a hedge much more quickly, and we therefore believe shape and bushiness to be real signs of quality, rather than current plant height.
Bearing this in mind, we thought now might be an ideal time to share some of our other top tips and considerations for creating the perfect hedge – be it replacing or installing a new hedge of any size or length, in any location.
Top tips for creating the perfect hedge:
- CHOOSE HARDY – Choose a hedging type that doesn’t just ‘look pretty’ but that is hardy and can withstand the conditions it needs to e.g. harsh salt laden winds near the coast
- INSTANT OR NOT? – Do you want an instant hedge or are you prepared to wait for it to form? Plant large plants around 18inches to 2ft apart for a quickly forming hedge or smaller plants spaced further apart if you don’t mind waiting
- CHOOSE BUSHY – Choose bushy, rather than ‘leggy’ looking plants – these indicate a healthier ‘pot grown’ start in life and are likely to form a thicker hedge more quickly. We trim all of our hedging plants on the nursery several times a year to promote bushy growth. Remember, height isn’t everything when searching for the answer to your perfect hedge.
- FEED SOIL & PLANTS – Enrich poor soil around the planting holes with a well-rotted manure or compost, and add a good slow release fertiliser to the hole before planting (ensure the roots don’t directly touch the fertiliser or it they might burn them)
- MULCH WELL – Once planted, mulch around the area with compost or bark chippings to keep weeds at bay
- WATER WELL – Keeping newly planted hedges well watered is key to their survival! Drying out is a common cause of hedge failures. Watering really well once a week is better than little and often in drier months
- FIT FOR PURPOSE – Our top coastal hedging picks are: Olearia virgata Laxifolia and Olearia traversii Compacta, (for the most exposed positions/positions very close to the sea) and Griselinia littoralis (for positions set back a little from the seafront, or in a more sheltered estuary).
- HERE TO HELP – Ask advice from the experts – your local nursery should be able to offer great hedging advice, to help you on your way to creating the perfect hedge
More information regarding hedging and the most suitable options for your own garden can be found here.
