[lotty]

A path has been moved and now runs in front of my allotment. I want to screen it off with a hedge in order to have privacy, so has to be leaved all year round, and also I want to get it grown asap.

A well-established privet hedge is already in place, but there is a gap of about ten feet which I need to fill.

I like the privet, and would be happy to grow another, but I've had a look on the internet and gather that they unfortunately take several years, due to the fact that they have to be cut back hard each year so as to create much growth low down so that it is not thin there, and that there are no gaps........to get it all thick and bushy.

I could put a fence up and then grow them. Does anyone think that could work? This would solve the problem straight away, which is what I need, and then give time to grow anything as speed wouldn't be as necessary. I kinda like this idea. Then when grown I could remove the fence. This sounds good to me.

Or I would be happy to plant something else. It is only a few feet, and I'm not too bothered, as they are all plants to me.

The main thing is to get the privacy as soon as I possibly can.

Maybe I could transplant some bushes, but I can't imagine that would be practical.

So please, I would be very grateful for any help, as i want to be sure I make the right decision.

[Kristen]

Unless you buy mature plants, which are expensive, a hedge is going to take 3 to 5 years to be 6' tall and bushy ...

As an alternative to fencing panels could you grow a climber up a frame of some sort? perhaps some posts-and-wires (like a fence)?  Lots of colourful climbers available of course, as well as evergreen ones.

[sunshineband]

Maybe you could fill the gap with some debris netting on posts, about the same height as the existing hedge, to give you a degree of privacy, and then plant hedging plants in in front of it

Have a look at Hopes Grove Nurseries if you can't find anything local www.hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk as they are excellent and have a huge range of plants of all sizes available.

[lotty]

Those are both very good suggestions..........I did, of course, know that already and was just testing. No, seriously, thanks for that. I thought on the matter more and have decided I would like privet. I will not make it too bushy at the bottom as this then allows me to see if anyone is behind it, thus giving me a feeling of whatever the word is for that.

I am going to go for the debris netting idea, because i have some already and will get what I need straight away, and will give me maybe more control over training the privets. I suppose there are varieties of privet, so I will look into that, but thank you very much for your helpful advice.........I'm much happier now that I know what to do.

I will just say, I have a lovely allotment, had it for 9 years but life bade me do other things, which I mainly wanted, and the allotment has been on the, well not even the backburner, but in the cupboard. But now the time has come and I am soooooo happy with it.  Thanks.

[Goosegirl]

Although privet is a hungry hedging plant that can take nutrients out of the surrounding area, it would probably look better if your hedge was all privet and you can always add extra feed if needed. As for bushiness, it's not just cutting off the top stems but the out-growing ones at the sides. The harder you prune the quicker they will grow, so it's a balance between the two.

[lotty]

Thanks Goosegirl, I think privet all along, too, in time. I went to the allotment all this morning. I put up some of the green netting but it was very very see-through, so I thought about trellis, and then just cobbled 'an open and hotch-potch fence thing' with old planks of weathered, rotting wood and nails, it not square or uniform, so it is like nature, in harmony with it, and doesn't attract any attention....it is almost invisible in this way, yet it is 12 feet long and five and a half feet high.

What I would like to ask now is which climbers could I use to fill in all the spaces of the fence/trellis, as Kristen mentioned that there were evergreen ones, which it has to be as I want the privacy all year round.

Then as i am growing the climbers and filling out the fence I will grow the privet bushes just in front of it.

So does anyone know of an evergreen climber that would suit my needs, please?

[Kristen]

which climbers could I use to fill in all the spaces of the fence/trellis, as Kristen mentioned that there were evergreen ones, which it has to be as I want the privacy all year round.

The one I was thinking of is the evergreen Clematis - Clematis armandii. Flowers in winter (scented I think, although you might not be wandering around in Winter to actually notice!)

[Goosegirl]

Just looked at the RHS site and found ten recommended ones. I would avoid ivy though, but look it up in case it isn't a rampant one.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/articles/graham-rice/10-AGM-climbers-and-wall-shrubs.
I like the idea of your "natural-looking" fence and should last until your hedge has grown sufficiently.

[crh75]

The advantage of using privet is that you can take lots of cuttings from your existing hedge in late spring and they should be ready to plant in the autumn - free hedge.

[lotty]

The advantage of using privet is that you can take lots of cuttings from your existing hedge in late spring and they should be ready to plant in the autumn - free hedge.

Thank you very much for that helpful info/idea. I went to the garden center and then was confronted with the question of which type of privet to match the one I have. In a way i suppose it doesn't really matter, but certainly the one so far in place is just the job.

So, yes I will take cuttings. I'll read up on this but if you can give any tips for success then I'd welcome that because I know there is always a learning curve. I'm so pleased you wrote that. Thanks.

[lotty]

which climbers could I use to fill in all the spaces of the fence/trellis, as Kristen mentioned that there were evergreen ones, which it has to be as I want the privacy all year round.

The one I was thinking of is the evergreen Clematis - Clematis armandii. Flowers in winter (scented I think, although you might not be wandering around in Winter to actually notice!)

Thanks. I think I will go for this as it is certainly going to be evergreen. I need privacy for sure. I've seen strangers passing by, and two watering cans got stolen this week, but I went looking for them, thinking the thief may have secreted them in hiding for later/safe removal, and sure enough i found them. It's horrible isn't it. Hut's been broken into a few times over the years, even had two druggies who'd started living in it. Gave them an hour to go. They left a load of rubbish and there was needles and bits of foil and alcohol wipes and citric acid, and they stole a few items. Nice.

[lotty]

Just looked at the RHS site and found ten recommended ones. I would avoid ivy though, but look it up in case it isn't a rampant one.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/articles/graham-rice/10-AGM-climbers-and-wall-shrubs.
I like the idea of your "natural-looking" fence and should last until your hedge has grown sufficiently.

I've had a look at those climbers and I am going to try some in another part of the allotment because they are so nice. In fact i was thinking what did I want to grow, and if I am honest i think i just want to grow flowers and plants rather than veg.  I want plants with a strong and pleasant scent, so there will be that and the background buzzing of bees and butterflies all around, and get the bird feeders going.

I'm going to empty a compost bunker i did about 6 years ago. I looked and it is all pure soil now and is dry, and has all holes/burrows in it and old and new, what I suspect are rat droppings, so that will be an interesting dig. I don't wish them any harm, but they will have to find a new home as I will need the bunker for when I get cracking.  Thanks for the link.

[Kristen]

I will take cuttings

Downside of cuttings is the time it takes.  You'll be two years getting a plant that is the same size as you are likely to get in a nursery / garden centre ...

I grow loads of stuff from cuttings, but I have been doing it for years so every year, now, I have loads of THIS and next year I will have loads of THAT to make a new part of the garden from ... but any new plans, which are not already in my propagation production line!!, I have to buy-in plants for.

i think i just want to grow flowers and plants rather than veg.

Just a heads-up that your Allotment Rules may require you to grow X% as Veg, or maybe Fruit, rather than flowers. Hopefully they allow enough percentage flowers that you won't have to do battle with them

[crh75]

I can't help with any tips as I have only just tried this myself, sorry.  An internet search suggests it is very easy.

I agree with Kristen that it will take longer than bought.  For me I am completing a hedge in an orchard that I am just planting now so, as the trees will take a few years to establish, I am fine with the hedge taking time. 

The choice is yours!

[Kristen]

I am completing a hedge in an orchard that I am just planting now so, as the trees will take a few years to establish, I am fine with the hedge taking time. 

Hedge not needed (i.e. "sooner") to provide shelter for the orchard trees?  Just thinking out loud ...

Here we have concentrated on perimeter windbreak (wish I had done it the day we moved in ... ) and hedges 3 years in advance of then planting the "rooms" they have created.  Although we have a perimeter hedge (7' - 8' or so) it is noticeable that plants we planted in "open" areas of the garden have done nothing like as well as those we have planted in sheltered areas ... so now we are creating shelter first, and then planting second.

Orchards around here (not many left now) seem to have substantial windbreaks (Lombardy poplars, and the like, which are of course massively tall compared to Apple trees!) and some hedges too I think.