Would this hedge put you off a house?

CraighB

Hi all,

I am going to view a house tomorrow and it has a huge long but thin garden. Down the left hand size there is a hedge which runs the entire length of it.

If I did buy the house my plans would be to rip up most of the paving and put wide borders and have cottage/country garden style planting.

However this would make it difficult to get to the hedge when it needs trimming, especially given the size of the hedge and also surely it would suck tons of moisture out of the ground around it?

So would this put you off a bit?

Thanks
Craigh

Obelixx

The hedge looks healthy and well-maintained so I'd keep it.  You can still lift most of those slabs and then just make the right hand borders wider, curvier, broken up into discreet circles or triangles with trellis panels, arches or "exclamation mark" trees or obelisks to divide the garden and make it more interesting for you and the birds and other wildlife.

Brexiteer

We have a hedge like that and we have to go round next doors to cut it plus what happens if your new neighbours don't want it removed. More trouble than its worth 

Kitty 2

The idea of trimming it would put me off 😯.  You make a good point about the quality of the soil beside it too. 
Do you know what type of hedge it is? If it's privet, which will rejuvenate from cutting back to old wood, you could trim it narrower to widen your garden. This may upset your new neighbours though.

treehugger80

the question is, whose hedge is it? the house you're potentially buying or next doors?

if its next doors i'd hack it back hard to the boundary line in the autumn and fence it (and gain a decent chunk of garden i'd bet) if yours i'd rip it out, fence it and plant much nicer looking shrubs and climbers

KT53

We had a hedge like that, although nothing like the length.  I eventually had enough of cutting it so planned to rip it out and replace with a fence.  I mentioned this to my neighbour and could hardly prevent him from ripping it out there and then   I thought he liked it and he assumed I liked it, so prior to that neither had mentioned the reality.

In a wider garden I would probably keep it, but it does take up a lot of space and many other plants will struggle beneath it.

Flinster

I’d wonder why it’s paved... my guess would be no light because of the hedge/narrow garden. I’m with Treehugger- if it isn’t yours hack it back and fence it, if it is, I’d take it out, or take it back and allow to regrow, but it will look a mess for a while. Maybe take out half of it depending on how you want the garden to be. I enjoy hedge trimming, I find it quite a mindful thing to do, but I think that one would feel quite oppressive...

Obelixx

If the house fits your needs such a hedge is a minor issue.   You'll have plenty to deal with just moving in and unpacking to start with and that'll give you time to get to know the new neighbours and discuss the hedge with them.  Then you can decide to keep it, modify it or rip it out.

It is wide but it is a good windbreak and a good divider and is free to maintain whereas fences can be expensive to buy and to replace when they break.

CraighB

Thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it! To be honest I'm leaning more towards it putting me off as it is a huge garden and it is going to take some maintenance as it is and I don't really want to be trimming hedges and then clearing all the mess it makes too.

However this is not the only house I'm looking at this weekend. The other house has a big garden too and it's also a walled garden and it is a blank canvas and looks like you could do so much with it!! Also the house is bigger but it needs a bit more work than the other one. Here is a photo of the garden!

AndyDean

I'd far rather have a hedge than a fence!

Just needs a trim once or twice a year, as opposed to fences which need painting, replacing every few years, fall down in the wind and offer no wildlife value at all.

We're in quite a windy spot and the fences (new build house came with them) channel the wind making it incredibly fierce through the garden, whereas a hedge would break up the wind and make the garden more sheltered. One day I'll try to convince my neighbours to replace the fence with a hedge...

Obelixx

I'd rather have that second garden to play with - as long as those walls are sound.  If not, they'll be expensive to fix.

Great potential there for adding texture, colour, perfume, privacy and it's also easy to manage while you wait and see what grows and can concentrate on fixing the house to suit your needs.