Bushes to box off?

[Chris_Pallet]

Anyone know what the names of the bushes that you have in your front garden to use instead of a fence, the ones that can be trimmed and squared to make look nice.??

I've just got an open patio which dogs and kids think is a play area lol

I'd love to make a bespoke solid fence, but the price of timber these days I'll maybe wait a couple years ha.

Thank you

 

[porker]

Do you mean a box hedge (Buxus sempervirens)?

 

[Chris_Pallet]

Excellent, I've just searched that and it looks like it will be the one.
I'll be the next Edward scissor hands lol.

Cheers, have a good day

 

[marcros]

how tall do you need it? there are a few that will do what you want, but some are very slow growing, particularly box. they also need a bit of upkeep, which if you haven't got the tools will make the timber seem cheap.

you could use Lonicera nitida Hedge Plants which is dense with a small leaf. `I have a golden one in my garden, and it grows easily from cuttings, and fairly quickly- to the point that if you dont pick up all the clippings they start to grow. Another few months and you will be into the bare root season- something like beech or hornbeam keep their leaves in winter and can be cut square. they are not particularly expensive either.

taste is subjective, but you could drop the idea of it being perfectly squared and look at something like Photinia Photinia Hedging Plants

final note. I found the first links that I googled for you. I actually bought from them and from Great offers on RHS Hedging Plants, Bare Root Hedging from Hedge Nursery. it pays to shop around because some places had more useful price breaks than others.

 

[Spectric]

Box hedges are suffering box blight, many being replaced with other types like Taxus. " Taxus baccata (English Yew) is a dense, evergreen conifer hedge which boasts vibrant green foliage during spring, with small red fruits appearing in the autumn "

 

[J-G]

I'd recommend Yew - I planted 48 last year from Yew hedge plants

 

[Geoff_S]

We had a 30+ year old box hedge that was destroyed within a matter of weeks by box tree moth.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=760
We've now got privet, cheap and solid, portuguese laurel a bit more expensive but quite nice

Box & yew a relatively slow growing.

 

[Gordon Tarling]

Don't plant yew or laurel if there's children around - they are both poisonous.

G.

 

[hog&bodge]

There is a guy near me who has large fake boxwood bushes.. look realistic till you get up close.

 

[Richard_C]

There's some useful stuff on the rhs website. Maybe start with this but do your own search for advice on planting, pruning times etc.

3 years ago I would have said box but as others have said above the destruction is fast and seems inevitable.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=351

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/4/...aw?.partner=sky&.src=ym&reason=partner_domian
Maybe you can see this - I can't. Odd. Anyway, it was Ashridge Nurseries for yew.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

.

 

[Tris]

Privet is quick to establish and easy to trim. Lonicera nitida is good for hedges up to 3 feet or so but goes floppy if much taller. Lonicera pileata will grow taller. Ilex crenata is a good alternative to box but expensive and slow growing, better suited to a knot garden. Holly is a good hedge but pricey. Viburnum tinus or V. x burkwoodii make a good hedge but some people find they smell bad.

 

[Chris_Pallet]

I didn't know there was so many types,
Really appreciate the advice on the box hedging problems, I'll stay clear.
I reckon Lonicera nitida looks good for me, it should be available in November so gives me time to prepare the beds etc.
Thanks again all

 

[stuart little]

Don't plant yew or laurel if there's children around - they are both poisonous.

G.

So is Portuguese laurel.

 

[accipiter]

https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/4/...aw?.partner=sky&.src=ym&reason=partner_domian
Maybe you can see this - I can't. Odd. Anyway, it was Ashridge Nurseries for yew.

Looks like the link you shared is in your messages folder. When trying to "quote" your post the link shows as so - try a reply to review your post to see what I mean.

 

[accipiter]

I'll give a second vote for Ashridge. I got a number of bare rooted young trees from them last year to use for bonsai starters.
https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/?gc...yLVMhheyZYXYmPvmL2fZl5-UEOklwxlBoC5UwQAvD_BwE

 

[accipiter]

Anyone know what the names of the bushes that you have in your front garden.....
<snip>
I've just got an open patio which dogs and kids think is a play area lol

I'd love to make a bespoke solid fence, but the price of timber these days I'll maybe wait a couple years ha.

Thank you

You could try to find somewhere local with old pallets they want shifting - usually free of charge.

Some - not all - of these are made up from hardwood and may last longer than you'd think. Even the "softwood" ones may last long enough to secure the area for the time in between getting better wood in a couple of years - while waiting for any hedging to establish and become dense enough to keep the dogs in.

 

[dickm]

Depending on the situation, what about hawthorn? Best rural hedging plant there is, but may look a bit rustic in an urban setting. Relatively quick growing and if you can let it grow up to a couple of metres and then lay it, it can be "bull strong and pig tight", as in an old Herefordshire saying.
If you want something a bit more "sophisticated", then one of the cypresses or false cypresses (but NOT Leylandii!) is quick growing and easy to trim (which it will need).
As others have said, Box seems to be really suffering, though mine up here in the frozen north seem to be fighting the blight successfully.
Bit far for the OP, but lots of people recommend Buckingham Nurseries out to the west of Buckingham for hedging plants.
Whatever you choose, Frank's suggestion of some sort of temporary fence is almost essential.

 

[Tris]

That's a good point about fencing, I planted a hornbeam hedge at a corner plot house last winter and had to put up 3 stands of wire through it to stop the local kids running and cycling through it.

Ashridge are good, tend to sell out of the popular stuff quite quickly. Have used Buckingham nurseries for mail order plants some years ago, very good. Hedging direct are another good option, had several hundred mixed hedging plants from them last winter, all growing well.