Hedge Choice

18 years ago

Hi Conifer Lovers,

I will admit I am not a conifer afficionado but we need the best hedge plant for a privacy screen around our pool.

So there are the Leighton Green and Castlewellan cultivars, which we have seen growing at a nearby house, and these grow fast, but must be kept in check.

There are other species. Apparently the Monterey cypress can also be trained as a hedge.

My problem is, I need to plant these hedges close to a fence, either in front of or behind a retaining wall, so we are concerned about the ultimate size of the root ball.

Given that a hedge could be seen as a "bonsai" version of the tree, is the rootball and indeed the trunk of a tightly trimmed hedge specimen constrained?. If not then we need to have an alternate hedge conifer.

Any suggestions ?

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Comments (3)

bullthistle
18 years ago
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/plantfinder/plant_finder_TREESANDSHRUBS.htm. You have junipers which could be the best route and hollies, but not cypress they get too wide.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials
chris_rex
Original Author
18 years ago
Hmm,
Thanks for the info. I am not familiar with junipers, so I need to do more research. One issue with asymetrical planti ngs really is quite significant. On one side of the fence there is unlimited roon for the roots. One the other side they are constrained by the side of the swimming pool. However, the plant is trimmed directly above the limit of its root extension on one side.

So what happens ? Do the roots try to extend beyond the vertical extent on the pool side, or do they prefer to run out the unconstrained side, and what effect does that have on the stability of the hedge ?

What happens if we maintain the hedge clipping on our side, but the neighbour lets the tree grow freely on the other side.?

These are key issues and I am sure others have experienced these problems!
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chris_rex
Original Author
18 years ago
My wife, ever the peron of action, went out and bought some Juniper "Spartan" for our hedge. So, I support that, but the question is: How close to plant them ?