Prickly hedge for a shady site

robkingston · Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

My house is on a corner plot, and the front garden extends around the
side of the house in a narrow strip about 8ft wide. Because there are
no windows on this side of the house and there is only a low wall a
foot or so high around the garden, it tends to be used as an extension
of the road and pavement by local kids playing football, sitting on
the wall and leaving crisp packets around, etc. The kids aren't a bad
lot as kids go, but I'd like to put a hedge in to reclaim the garden
and discourage them fromsitting/standing on the wall and damaging it.

The wall faces northeast and is in the shadow of the house for pretty
much the whole day. The soil is sandy, quite acid and free-draining. I
want something informal - I'm not really keen on neatly clipped hedges
- and prickly and sturdy enough to do the job, and reasonably fast
growing. Flowers/berries would be a bonus as it's a bit of a gloomy
dark site.

I was thinking pyracantha would fit the bill? Any other suggestions?
At the front of the house I have some escallonia which took ages to
get going but is now thriving, but it's not really prickly and also I
believe it prefers a sunnier spot?

Finally, is now an OK time to plant hedging shrubs? I gather that
autumn is the ideal time but I never got round to it last year and
want to get something in before the summer if possible.

Thanks for any help.

Archived from group: uk>rec>gardening

Jeff Layman · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 89

robkingston@yahoo.com wrote:
The soil is sandy, quite acid and free-draining. I
> want something informal - I'm not really keen on neatly clipped hedges
> - and prickly and sturdy enough to do the job, and reasonably fast
> growing. Flowers/berries would be a bonus as it's a bit of a gloomy
> dark site.
>
> I was thinking pyracantha would fit the bill? Any other suggestions?
>
> Finally, is now an OK time to plant hedging shrubs? I gather that
> autumn is the ideal time but I never got round to it last year and
> want to get something in before the summer if possible.
>
> Thanks for any help.

Pyracantha would probably fit the bill. You could always mix it with Rosa
rugosa and blackberry. That should provide a pretty impenetrable mass. How
about adding a blackthorn for good measure? A good selection of flowers and
fruits there.

Not too sure about the sandy/acid soil, though. You could plant now, but
you would have to water pretty regularly with that sandy soil. A decent
amount of compost to plant into would help.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

keith kent · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 25

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message @tcp.co.uk...
> robkingston@yahoo.com wrote:
> The soil is sandy, quite acid and free-draining. I
>> want something informal - I'm not really keen on neatly clipped hedges
>> - and prickly and sturdy enough to do the job, and reasonably fast
>> growing. Flowers/berries would be a bonus as it's a bit of a gloomy
>> dark site.
>>
>> I was thinking pyracantha would fit the bill? Any other suggestions?
>>
>> Finally, is now an OK time to plant hedging shrubs? I gather that
>> autumn is the ideal time but I never got round to it last year and
>> want to get something in before the summer if possible.
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>
> Pyracantha would probably fit the bill. You could always mix it with Rosa
> rugosa and blackberry. That should provide a pretty impenetrable mass.
> How about adding a blackthorn for good measure? A good selection of
> flowers and fruits there.
>
> Not too sure about the sandy/acid soil, though. You could plant now, but
> you would have to water pretty regularly with that sandy soil. A decent
> amount of compost to plant into would help.
>
> --
> Jeff
> (cut "thetape" to reply)

How about mixed berberis with the Pyracantha.
Keith
>
>

Fuschia · Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 19

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:14:04 GMT, "keith kent"
wrote:

>
>"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
>@tcp.co.uk...
>> robkingston@yahoo.com wrote:
>> The soil is sandy, quite acid and free-draining. I
>>> want something informal - I'm not really keen on neatly clipped hedges
>>> - and prickly and sturdy enough to do the job, and reasonably fast
>>> growing. Flowers/berries would be a bonus as it's a bit of a gloomy
>>> dark site.
>>>
>>> I was thinking pyracantha would fit the bill? Any other suggestions?
>>>
>>> Finally, is now an OK time to plant hedging shrubs? I gather that
>>> autumn is the ideal time but I never got round to it last year and
>>> want to get something in before the summer if possible.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any help.
>>
>> Pyracantha would probably fit the bill. You could always mix it with Rosa
>> rugosa and blackberry. That should provide a pretty impenetrable mass.
>> How about adding a blackthorn for good measure? A good selection of
>> flowers and fruits there.
>>
>> Not too sure about the sandy/acid soil, though. You could plant now, but
>> you would have to water pretty regularly with that sandy soil. A decent
>> amount of compost to plant into would help.
>>
>> --
>> Jeff
>> (cut "thetape" to reply)
>
>How about mixed berberis with the Pyracantha.
>Keith
>>

I have seen them mixed in a hedge but the pyracantha grew faster and
dominated the berberis.
A pyracantha hedge looks best if you get a mix of varieties with
yellow and red berries rather than just one colour.

robertharvey · Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 420

On 25 Feb, 19:35, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
> Pyracantha would probably fit the bill. You could always mix it with Rosa
> rugosa and blackberry. That should provide a pretty impenetrable mass. How
> about adding a blackthorn for good measure? A good selection of flowers and
> fruits there.

My rosa rugosa groes like buggery on it's damp, clayish, heavy soil -
except in shade. As for Blackthorn, that's what is causing the
shade. It likes going upwards.

Nick Maclaren · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 430

In article ,
robertharvey@my-deja.com writes:
|> On 25 Feb, 19:35, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
|> > Pyracantha would probably fit the bill. You could always mix it with Rosa
|> > rugosa and blackberry. That should provide a pretty impenetrable mass. How
|> > about adding a blackthorn for good measure? A good selection of flowers and
|> > fruits there.
|>
|> My rosa rugosa groes like buggery on it's damp, clayish, heavy soil -
|> except in shade. As for Blackthorn, that's what is causing the
|> shade. It likes going upwards.

Blackthorn is a variable species, and may also be a straggly shrub.

In the wrong, er, right, conditions, Pyracantha can produce shoots
6' long and 3/4" at the base in a season. I got rid of mine, because
I got so sick of pruning it.

My guess is that, in heavy soil, Rosa rugosa would be the best bet.
In very poor soil, almost certainly blackthorn.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

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