Hedge/fencing

annabel.austin6kmTcOtk

Hi everyone I am new here and and have virtually no experience in the gardening world, although I am keen to learn! Ok, so we have bought a house that is on a fairly busy road, it has a low hedge at the front and I am keen to put something higher in that will give the house more privacy. I have a grass verge in front of the house and then my hedge which is around 5ft and I’m thinking of replacing the hedge with a five foot fence with a hedge above. I need it to look nice and hide the house? What would I plant (I was thinking Laurel) or would just conifers be better? I need to get around 7-8ft in total height and don’t want to wait years?  

K67

What type of hedge is it? If you don't know please post a photo.
It might be 5ft now but it could be a fast grower.
I assume the grass verge isn't yours? 

annabel.austin6kmTcOtk

Im not sure if the grass verge is ours but I’m only going where our existing hedge is as I want the gap between us and the road to stay the same. There’s also a pavement next to the grass verge so quite a nice distance. 

delski

It is likely that you own the grass verge and the council is responsible from the pavement. Check your title plans. The council will have a 1.5m limit on fence built on the pavement - anything higher you'll need planning permission.

I think your hedge is beech. Yes, it will get taller and hopefully someone more experienced can tell you about wait times for that.

K67

Can't quite tell what the hedge is but the brown leaved section could be a beech hedge which can grow a couple of feet a year.
It's too nice to replace with a boring fence and there usually are height restrictions  so best to check with the council

Bilje

Your hedge looks looks similar to mine which I'd beech. A lovely hedge to have, holds its leaves until Spring, then it sheds them, lovely buds unfurl looking like pink shrimps then a dense hedge over the summer. Beech and hornbeam are basically trees so if they don't get trimmed they'd be incredibly tall. If your hedge is one of those two trees you can grow t as tall as you need. We cut our in June(checking for birdnests first) then a second cut in August which leaves it tidy over winter. I'd just keep trimming it until you judge its the height you want. 

annabel.austin6kmTcOtk

Thank you. I’ve looked at the title deeds and no mention of the verge? I understand there’s a 4ft limit on a fence on the highway so wouldn’t go beyond that. I’m just unsure how long it would take to add another 3ft to the existing hedge? There’s also a gate that I plan to take out, which means there will be a gap in the hedge?

delski

How about you wait until September and see how much higher the hedge grows? Only trim sides if needs be. Letting your current hedge grow will be quicker than ripping it out and starting a new one.

annabel.austin6kmTcOtk

How would I fill the gap? I suppose I could wait but we are clearing the drive to extend it and it would be easier to do it all at once? I really need to double the height of the hedge? 

delski

I am struggling to see how ripping out your current hedge and starting from scratch will get you a 10ft hedge quicker than just leaving your beech to grow, but perhaps a more experienced gardener can contradict me.

If you are removing the gate, you could fill with beech. Too late for bare root whips (I believe) but the thing in the gap will always be playing catch up with the more established hedge plants. Unless you want to fill the gap with a completely different faster growing plant?

JennyJ

If you don't want to buy another beech (or however many to fill the gap, once you've prepared the soil - I'm assuming there's a path with the gate), you could allow the plants either side to grow sideways across the gap as well as up. If there are any long and fairly flexible stems near the gap you could bend them out across the gap to speed things up - maybe put in a stake or two and tie them in. Branches bent closer to horizontal will tend to shoot along the length, and pinching off the tips of those shoots will encourage branching. If you need to block off the gateway while the hedge grows across, something temporary like stakes and netting should do the job whilst not blocking the light that the hedge needs to grow well.