Cheap,Tall,Trees/Hedge for privacy

[Craphouserat]

We have a garden seperate to our converted steading home - previous owner bought a piece of land from a farmer since the property did not come with a garden. Said garden is really just a large piece of field with a four foot fence around it. The property/garden are surrounded by countryside/fields and the garden is a nice place to sit out. We essentially just use it as a place to drink wine in summer/grow veg and a place for the dog to run about in - not so much a well cared for garden since its round the corner from the house.

The farmer has taken to parking all his tractors/trailors old farming equipment right at our fence = and when i say right at the fence I mean a couple of inches from the east side fence. Not so nice to sit out and admire the scenery of an evening when tractors etc spoil the view.

So we want to plant the tallest/cheapest trees/whatever to make the garden as private as possible. The garden is large - about 50 long and 20 foot wide - basically a bit of a field the farmer sold years ago. We want to plant these right down the east fence and some along the north fence as the garden can be seen as you come down the road into the steading.

So can anyone recommend a specific type of tree/bush that is relatively fast growing and realtively cheap? I say cheap as I'm getting married later this year and dont want to splash out too much. We can't put a large fence up to block out the farmer and his tractors since the garden is very exposed and the wide barrels over the fields and would bring a panel fence down. High tress/bushes would not bother any neighbours since no view would be blocked - they all have their own private garden at the rear of their home. The farmer won't move his tractors - hes a pretty iggnorant fella - doesnt speak to any of the residents and they've lived here years. We share a parking access to the fields area with this guy - his tractors pass close to the motors and dig up our parking area when he's reversing in and out of fields-never engages in conversation.

Any advice appreciated.

[kentmotorcompany]

I used Laurel hedging last year. Got 50 plants for about £80 if I remember correctly.
They came loose, (all bound together with no pots or soil) much cheaper that way, but you have to be ready to put them in quite quick. Although they will keep for a few days in water.



This is a about three months later. They only grew about 6 inches or so, in the first year, but I believe once they get established they get away fairly fast. I wanted to create a soft barrier, I'll grow them up to about chest height, and then keep them trimmed at about that height.


ETA:

Forgot to say, they are evergreen too, so will create a permeant barrier.

I have quite nice aspect looking out from my house, except as you can see the road (although only light local residential traffic) passes by quite close, so once it is about 5 foot high it will block out the road, but still give us a reasonable open aspect, similar to what you are looking for based on your post.

Edited by kentmotorcompany on Friday 4th March 19:05

[markjo]

http://www.bowhayestrees.co.uk/willow.html for fast growing, but they are non evergreen, for evergreen try http://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/leylandii.h...
I bought around 200, planted the willow first the the leyandii about 2 meters further in, will give a great screen and stop any traffic noise too....

[mcelliott]

kentmotorcompany said:

I used Laurel hedging last year. Got 50 plants for about £80 if I remember correctly.

You could have saved yourself £40 by getting half as many. The spacing looks way too close.

[kentmotorcompany]

mcelliott said:

You could have saved yourself £40 by getting half as many. The spacing looks way too close.

Thanks for your help.

[Mr GrimNasty]

A well constructed fence should stand up to the wind no problem. If you are really worried you could use the alternating slat windbreak style of fence (like a pallet with the planks alternating on either side) so the wind can pass through but it is visually solid.

The cheapest instant hedge is probably rootballed Thuja plicata (western red cedar) - looks very much like Leylandii but is slightly slower growing and responds better to pruning - more controllable.

http://www.hedgenursery.co.uk/browse/western-red-c...

[racing green]

Given that it is farmland and you want cheap I would look for bare root native hedging plants such as Hawthorn, Dog Rose, Field Maple, Cornus and Holly. These will be very cheap and if planted carefully create a really nice hedge which is befitting of the surroundings, good for wildlife and quick growing. And avoid Leylandii.

[Mr GrimNasty]

The trouble with a native hedge is that if you plant whips you'll have to wait at least a decade! And larger bare-root feathered plants tend to sulk for a couple of years before they kick in. And potted plants in the quantity you need will be too expensive. and as noted in the other thread, if you are in the country, you will need deer/rabbit fencing until it is established.

There is actually nothing wrong with Leylandii, as long as you keep it pruned to the shape and size you want from the outset and never trim back past green, but there are similar looking better plants that will re-sprout from bare wood. Thuja occidentalis brabant is another nice, but more expensive example.

[Craphouserat]

Craphouserat said:

Thanks for all thoughts so far - very helpful

Cheers guys

[Craphouserat]

kentmotorcompany said:

I used Laurel hedging last year. Got 50 plants for about £80 if I remember correctly.
They came loose, (all bound together with no pots or soil) much cheaper that way, but you have to be ready to put them in quite quick. Although they will keep for a few days in water.



This is a about three months later. They only grew about 6 inches or so, in the first year, but I believe once they get established they get away fairly fast. I wanted to create a soft barrier, I'll grow them up to about chest height, and then keep them trimmed at about that height.


ETA:

Forgot to say, they are evergreen too, so will create a permeant barrier.

I have quite nice aspect looking out from my house, except as you can see the road (although only light local residential traffic) passes by quite close, so once it is about 5 foot high it will block out the road, but still give us a reasonable open aspect, similar to what you are looking for based on your post.

Edited by kentmotorcompany on Friday 4th March 19:05

You Sir have a quality lawn ! Looks like a carpet ! Looks like in a year or two you will have a nice hedge round the garden - will look very nice.

I really miss having a front/back garden with a garage/drive at side of the house. Had all that with previous property - opertunity to buy something closer to work in this location was too good to turn down. Major downside is the garden and garage being round the corner from the house - our oil tank is situated behind our garage. Another property looks out onto our garage area - so when I'm tinkering with motors/washing them i feel I'm being watched...even though I know my neighbours don't give a monkeys about what I'm doing! Will be nice to get our field made a little more private. The fact that garden/garage is seperate is something which may make us sell up in a bit. Great area/neighbours(farmer excluded) but something maybe semi-rural rather than rural would be better.

[AndyAudi]

Eucalyptus Gunnii,

Look good, grow fast, smell nice.

http://www.treesbypost.com/index.cfm/more_info/tru...

You may need to cut back every couple of years as they are very vigourous!
The cuttings burn ridiculously well as the leaves are full of menthol oil.

[Craphouserat]

AndyAudi said:

Eucalyptus Gunnii,

Look good, grow fast, smell nice.

http://www.treesbypost.com/index.cfm/more_info/tru...

You may need to cut back every couple of years as they are very vigourous!
The cuttings burn ridiculously well as the leaves are full of menthol oil.

Thanks - another to think about.

Cheers.

[kentmotorcompany]

Craphouserat said:

You Sir have a quality lawn ! Looks like a carpet ! Looks like in a year or two you will have a nice hedge round the garden - will look very nice.

Thanks very much. I must admit lawns are my thing, I'm not much of a gardner elsewhere, but I do spend far too much time on the lawn, I cut my Nans like that every other week for her too. All my neighbours know us as "the house with the stripy grass".

[shimmey69]

kentmotorcompany said:

I used Laurel hedging last year. Got 50 plants for about £80 if I remember correctly.
They came loose, (all bound together with no pots or soil) much cheaper that way, but you have to be ready to put them in quite quick. Although they will keep for a few days in water.



This is a about three months later. They only grew about 6 inches or so, in the first year, but I believe once they get established they get away fairly fast. I wanted to create a soft barrier, I'll grow them up to about chest height, and then keep them trimmed at about that height.


ETA:

Forgot to say, they are evergreen too, so will create a permeant barrier.

I have quite nice aspect looking out from my house, except as you can see the road (although only light local residential traffic) passes by quite close, so once it is about 5 foot high it will block out the road, but still give us a reasonable open aspect, similar to what you are looking for based on your post.

Edited by kentmotorcompany on Friday 4th March 19:05

you cant post a picture like that and not tell us how you get your lawn that nice, green, and stripy!!!

[Flintstone]

kentmotorcompany said:

mcelliott said:

You could have saved yourself £40 by getting half as many. The spacing looks way too close.

Thanks for your help.

He's right though. During dry spells they'll take twice as much moisture out of the ground as need have been the case which will affect adjacent vegetation. Like your lawn.

[kentmotorcompany]

Flintstone said:

He's right though. During dry spells they'll take twice as much moisture out of the ground as need have been the case which will affect adjacent vegetation. Like your lawn.

Ouch, kick me where it hurts.

[kentmotorcompany]

shimmey69 said:

you cant post a picture like that and not tell us how you get your lawn that nice, green, and stripy!!!

My top tip is cut often, and keep it long.

During the growing season I cut it once a week on nearly the mowers highest setting. This way you are only topping the grass, which encourages it to thicken up. If you leave it to grow long then cut it short, it is not so good for the grass, and it thins out. Also long grass holds the moisture longer than shorter grass.

Then get a mower with a roller on the back for the stripes. I also water it during long hot dry spells.

[Flintstone]

kentmotorcompany said:

Ouch, kick me where it hurts.

No need to get nasty. I was trying to help, as was mcelliott.

[kentmotorcompany]

Flintstone said:

kentmotorcompany said:

Ouch, kick me where it hurts.

No need to get nasty. I was trying to help, as was mcelliott.

Maybe I've misunderstood you?, but I think you have misunderstood me.

I meant by you telling me something may harm my precious lawn, you are getting me in my weak spot, and I was trying to say it in a harmless way by jokingly suggesting that you have hurt my feelings.


The tone of mcelliotts post was a less than helpful, and more akin to someone who just wants to appear clever, hence my short response to him.



Anyway I done my reading about the various recommended spacings for these plants, and I choose what rightly or wrongly suited me, so I have my reasons, but I am not seriously going to bite on someones comments and explain myself in detail here, as I honestly don't really mind what people think about the way I have spaced some plants. I certainly am not going to rip out and throw away half of my hard work on the back of a couple of comments on the internet.

[Flintstone]

kentmotorcompany said:

Maybe I've misunderstood you?, but I think you have misunderstood me.

Mmmm, half way there I suspect.

kentmotorcompany said:

. I certainly am not going to rip out and throw away half of my hard work on the back of a couple of comments on the internet.

Fair enough. I'm sure you don't want to hear about watering and nutrient demands and also what your local subsoil with that tree and shrub in your front garden could mean. I wouldn't presume to advise a man who done his reading (sic).

Edited by Flintstone on Monday 7th March 01:09