Beech in a narrow strip?

jaffacakes

Hi all, i have a narrow strip (about 1 foot) of soil. along the path in my terraced garden. Though i dug down deep and incorporated manure and compost. The wall beside it is about 4 or 5 foot. Would it be possible to grow a beech or hornbeam hedge here and be kept narrow.?I

I was hoping to limit spread to max about half a meter and maybe get height eventually of 6.5 foot. I currently have 2 photoina red robin and 1 pyracantha here. I am thinking of moving the photoina elsewhere in autumn because they will grow too large for the space.

I could either plant more pyracantha and other climbers or just go with a single row of beech/hornbeam and keep them neat once they reach desired height. 

I am not sure which is best option for such a small space.

Thanks for any advice.

Obelixx

There is a fruit farm near where I lived until last year that has a beech hedge along its boundary with the road.  It is one plant deep and they keep it trimmed to just 9 to 12 inches deep so yes, it's possible but you'll have to work in loads of nutrients and moisture retentive compost as the base of a wall will make it very dry.

Hornbeam is better suited to damper soils.

Pyracantha can probably also be kept pruned this narrow but the thorns may not be so good to deal with if it's a narrow thoroughfare.

jaffacakes

Thanks Obelixx. That sounds promising. I love the look of hornbeam but its not damp soil. I am torn between climbers or a hedge. I think I will try arches with climbers at top of garden where wall is 6 feet and then 15 feet of hornbeam or beech where the wall is shorter at 4 feet. I think I found another spot for the pyracantha