Help New to gardening - new beech hedge in trouble

william.stalbans

Hi I am very new to gardening, last year we planted a new beech hedge 60 plants 18 in high, spaced 15in apart in a double row. The first year they got wooly aphid and didn't grow much. This year the top most leaves have gone brown from the tip and died. I have been watering them via drip hose for an hour every other day when its dry and feeding them once a week with growmore 777liquid fertilizer as advised by the garden centre. Can anyone help, I did not know it could be so hard to grow a beech hedge.

Fairygirl

Hi William, not sure why you were told to feed them weekly. Small whips like that shouldn't need anything other than water if the ground has been nicely prepped for them. Some decent compost mixed in when planting and a slow release feed like Blood, Fish and Bone would have been ideal. A mulch would them have helped with moisture retention.
In subsequent years, a bit of B,F&B in spring with a layer of compost should be sufficient to keep them right until they get going really well themselves. 
The browning tips could have been down to the dry conditions last year, making them more vulnerable to pests, or too much food. Difficult to comment further without a photo though.

william.stalbans

william.stalbans

Please see photos

Borderline

Fairygirl is correct about the excess feeding. There is no need for weekly liquid feeds on shrubs. The pictures you post do look like leaf burn, and this can happen if you spray anything on the leaves when the sun is out. Secondly, the edges of leaves can turn yellow and eventually dry up with excessive feeding. I would stick with the watering now, and cut out the liquid feeding. Don't worry too much about the look of the leaves. Provided you water in the evenings or early mornings, your shrubs should recover.

Fire

I would just water deeply once a week and add mulch. Give it time.