Problem with a wrongly planted beech hedge

michelle Birtwell

Hi I planted a beech hedge 2 years ago, bare root 150 plants (and as advised by my neighbour, who worked for the local council in gardens and parks management) just popped the bareroots into a gap I had made with my spade. Little has happened to my hedge and I am very disappointed.So this year I have dug all of the grass from around the tree and given them a feed of blood, fish and bone and mulched them with a good compost to try to rescue them. I am living in hope.Would I be better digging them up and starting again, which coould prove to be very costly or stick with it? Any help is greatly appreciated.  

chicky

Hi Michelle,

We have a number of beech hedges planted this way (bareroots pushed into slits in the ground) and they are all doing well.  Having said that, the one in full sun is romping away much quicker than those in the shade - but even the shady ones are getting going (5 years from planting).  We have made sure that they are kept weed free at the base, watered in the first couple of years during dry spells, and fed with pelleted chicken manure in the spring.  I wouldn't give up yet - just make sure you keep the grass away from the base.

michelle Birtwell

Many Thanks Chicky.

I meant to also say that the hedge is in an exposed site, recieving full sun all day and the soil is clay under approx 1ft of topsoil. I will continue to nurture and feed in spring Many Thanks. 

Michelle

Fairygirl

Beech doesn't do so well in wetter sites Michelle so perhaps that could be a reason? I planted Hornbeam in a previous garden for that reason. I'm on clay up here and we get a lot of rain. I did a fair bit of preparation to my site as well because the hedge was going in amongst mature trees in parts - naturally those bits took a lot longer to establish but once they did they grew well. The bits that were wetter  romped away very quickly. A bit of help is probably needed as chicky says - they'll certainly benefit from it. My hedge was quite mature in a few years.