I’m planning on planting a beech hedge and have searched and searched the Internet and am really struggling to find any advice on what width to allow for the finished hedge.
Does anyone have any advice, guidance or opinion on this matter?
It's up to you really. Do you want it for privacy, a windbreak, a decorative feature, a boundary marker and barrier?
There is an apple and pear farm near where I sued to live in Belgium that had a very fine beech hedge on its boundary with the main road. It was kept neatly clipped and barely 9"/23cms thick. If you want it as a windbreak it would need to be twice that width and the same, or thicker, for a secure boundary and to keep out prying eyes for privacy.
When you create you planting trench, make it a good 60cms.2' wide and prepare it well by removing all weeds and their roots, big stones and other rubble and rubbish then enrich teh soil with some well rotted garden compost, manure and/or other soil conditioner. If you are planting bare root whips or saplings, soak the roots ina bucket for an hour to rehydrate them and then plant in a single or staggered row according to the thickness you need.
Check they are at the same planting depth as they were before and then firm in, water well and provide a mulch of more compost/manure/chipped bark to help retain moisture and suppress weeds so the roots can get a good start over autumn and winter without competition form other plants or weeds. If you're planting whips, trim them back to 9"/23cms and this willl help the plants grow more strongly next spring.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Im no expert, but I was planning about 80cm- metre in terms of ground prep, just because I’m removing turf/existing plants etc and have extremely poor soil, but I guess the hedge will be as wide as you want it to be. The width will depend on finished height too- a tall hedge will need a wider base, a short one less so. Mine probably won’t be higher than 2m finished height.
We have a beech hedge that is at least 50 years old. At some points in its life it has been allowed to grow freely, unclipped, and has needed a bit of taming. It is about 4 feet thick from back to front.
Then I would say 18" to 2' wide (45 to 60cms) and plant 2 rows in a spaced zig zag pattern with 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30cms) between each whip. That's a trowel length for me.
The narrow hedge I mentioned above was about 1.8m high and was definitely a permeable screen rather than a block.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Then I would say 18" to 2' wide (45 to 60cms) and plant 2 rows in a spaced zig zag pattern with 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30cms) between each whip. That's a trowel length for me.
The narrow hedge I mentioned above was about 1.8m high and was definitely a permeable screen rather than a block.
It's quite a versatile hedge and can be kept tight. My dad's became humongous and was around 6 to 8 feet in depth, and about 8 to 10 high, which made it rather tricky to maintain - especially for me! I'd agree with @Obelixx that you can plant quite close with whips, but if they have the right conditions, they get very solid and dense. It'll be fine if you keep it nicely clipped, and the winter foliage is lovely
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Question for you, How big is the "garden" it's going round? urban semi or country estate?
There is an apple and pear farm near where I sued to live in Belgium that had a very fine beech hedge on its boundary with the main road. It was kept neatly clipped and barely 9"/23cms thick. If you want it as a windbreak it would need to be twice that width and the same, or thicker, for a secure boundary and to keep out prying eyes for privacy.
When you create you planting trench, make it a good 60cms.2' wide and prepare it well by removing all weeds and their roots, big stones and other rubble and rubbish then enrich teh soil with some well rotted garden compost, manure and/or other soil conditioner. If you are planting bare root whips or saplings, soak the roots ina bucket for an hour to rehydrate them and then plant in a single or staggered row according to the thickness you need.
Check they are at the same planting depth as they were before and then firm in, water well and provide a mulch of more compost/manure/chipped bark to help retain moisture and suppress weeds so the roots can get a good start over autumn and winter without competition form other plants or weeds. If you're planting whips, trim them back to 9"/23cms and this willl help the plants grow more strongly next spring.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Im no expert, but I was planning about 80cm- metre in terms of ground prep, just because I’m removing turf/existing plants etc and have extremely poor soil, but I guess the hedge will be as wide as you want it to be.
The width will depend on finished height too- a tall hedge will need a wider base, a short one less so. Mine probably won’t be higher than 2m finished height.
planning on 3 plants per metre.
It will only be about 1.25m tall, to run alongside a footpath; but I don’t want it to end up looking thin and seethrough.
The narrow hedge I mentioned above was about 1.8m high and was definitely a permeable screen rather than a block.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
I'd agree with @Obelixx that you can plant quite close with whips, but if they have the right conditions, they get very solid and dense.
It'll be fine if you keep it nicely clipped, and the winter foliage is lovely
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...