Planting a new Beech Hedge

[Whitespin]

Hi everyone,

I’ve removed an old, very sparse hedge and had several old tree stumps ground out. There is a dilapidated 5 foot fence on the pavement side of the fence and the other side is my veg plot.

I don’t have any problems in preparing the ground for the new hedge, what I do need is advice on is the aftercare. The chap who ground out the stumps suggested that I leave the fence up, to give protection, until the new hedge was a couple of years old but I have my doubts about that.

In our area we have had a couple of very dry summers so I am concerned about keeping the new hedge watered. The hedge is to be a staggered double row of 90cm high bare rooted common beech. My idea was that I would remove the fence and put a row of 5foot high round fence posts down the centre of the hedge line with galvanised wire between them. This, I thought would both provide support for the trees and keep people out of the garden. To keep the plants watered I thought to use seep hose down the middle and cover this over with porous ground cover material.

None of the advice I’ve seen on line has mentioned using seep hose or suggested planting through fabric. They just say to keep the plants well watered and mulch around them to keep the weeds down. I had the mixed hedge at the front of my garden ‘laid’ last spring and everything, including the hedge and every weed seed ever invented grew at a huge rate of knots. The hedge bit was great but the weeds were a nightmare. Surprising what a little bit of light can do!

Any advice would be appreciated

John

[Glutton4...]

I love Beech hedges, they don't do well locally, so we tend to plant Hornbeam instead. Personally, I hate hedges planted through membrane, in my experience (miles and miles of hedge-planting) the membrane got torn and tatty very quickly, and the plants never got enough water. However, the seep hose would cure the second problem, and, as the site is close to you, and you can keep an eye on it, I guess the first issue is resolved, too. You can always cover it with bark or other mulch. I say, go for it! Good luck!

[Glutton4...]

Just to add, it will not be a thick hedge, so will not offer much privacy for many years. If you have room, I would suggest three rows. (I just like spending other folks' money! )

[snohare]

Depending on where you are in terms of potential wind, you may wish to keep the panel fence, at least for the first season. The reason I say this is that beech is prone to windburn - when exposed to lots of wind the leaf edge is particularly prone to severe dehydration leading to damage - and for much the same reason, too much sun can cause damage if the seedling does not get enough water.
Doubt they'll need support, particularly if they are decent quality (a good predictor of tree growth is a thick "collar" - that is the girth where the root becomes stem, you can tell it by the change in colour) - but right enough a wire or two does wonders to keep people out ! However, if you can manage it the plastic windproof mesh (not scaffolder's debris netting) is in my opinion the best thing you can get if you want a decent looking fence which will also help the plants grow. Don't get the orange...
Seep hose and mulch matting sounds good, I would suggest two overlapping strips pegged with fence wire because whatever you do you will get weeds and that will allow you in to remove the pesky itch you feel every time you see that nettle...

[Whitespin]

Thank you everyone for the encouraging advice. I will leave the fence where it is and put some netting on the otherside to keep worst of the wind off the hedge.

[dee9]

Beech hedges are awesome, they're livestock friendly, sunloving and easy to take care of (just make sure it watered and weeded enough, according to these instructions). My neighbor planted a copper beech by the way, it looks amazing comparing to other green plants around.