Piddle Valley Gardens Club – Monday 26 October 2026

Well done to everyone that came along to our meeting on a wild, wet and windy night. Malcom from the Gardens Group was our speaker for the evening on the subject of hedges and barriers. Our roving reporter Jasmine Pettals took notes.

Malcom started slightly off topic by reminding us that where plants are grown in peat free compost to liquid feed from day one because of the lack of suitable nutrients in the compost. In general Gardens Group recommends, and itself uses, SylvaGrow peat free compost. This product is slightly dearer than others but its inherent quality makes it the better choice.

Another helpful tip was to buy what we need for now and not to store it as it doesn’t keep well. Remember too to use a specific peat free seed compost for seeds rather than a peat free general-purpose compost.

Hedges and barriers

One of the reasons to plant a hedge is to reduce harmful levels of wind. A hedge will achieve around 50% permeability. Solid barriers, such as walls, provide a 100% barrier to wind but can create harmful eddies.

Hedges are helpful to screen eye sores such as oil tanks. Hedges of prickly berberis or similarly armoured shrubs can help to give security to property windows. If you want to compartmentalise your garden to create rooms then a hedge is going to do a great job and if you suffer from noisy traffic it can soften that noise and even partially filter dust. A hedge can multi-task.

If you want a solid barrier you could have a brick wall or perhaps a larch lap fence. Needing a screen? A trellis and/or a climbing plant could be the answer. Clematis montana is a hardy and vigorous climber; a Russian vine is an option but be wary it has an extreme growth rate and can become a nuisance; Lonicera (honeysuckle) is an evergreen, hardy climber with a delightful scent. Malcom recommended Lonicera Copper Beauty as its free of mildew.

Informal hedges

Photinia Red Robin – evergreen, needs trimming to shape
Elaeagnus – variegated and tough with fragrant flowers
Escallonia – semi evergreen with a tendency to be untidy. Needs shaping
Pyracantha – excellent for birds and bees. Evergreen and needs light trimming
Viburnum tinus – winter flowering, tough and evergreen
Pittosporum – fairly tough, variegated or green varieties.

Formal hedges

Recommendations:
Cherry laurel – grows quickly; best cut by hand rather than powered hedge trimmer.
Portuguese laurel – keeps neat and tidy. If left untrimmed flowers form.
Leylandii – must tightly control. Won’t rejuvenate. Fungal disease that can’t be sprayed.
Cupressus macrocarpa – tolerates salty spray.
Thuja plicata – can be cut back into old wood and is a good replacement for leylandii.
Ilex (Holly) – must be kept under control from day one and is fairly informal.
Beech – makes a marvellous hedge, keep in shape. Needs free draining soils.
Box – slow growing low hedge likely to be ravaged by box blight and box tree caterpillar.

Recommendations for replacing box

Yew – magnificent hedges, slow growing, doesn’t like it too wet, can be poisonous.
Lonicera nitida – vigorous grower, rejuvenates. Green and gold varieties.
Thuja plicata – can be cut back into old wood
Ilex crenata (Japanese holly) – benefits from some shade, needs well drained soil
Euonymus – better as a hedge than as topiary.
Lavender – a delightful, low growing, relaxed, scented hedge
Bloombux – needs an acid soil, flowers in Spring, compact

Native hedging

Sold as bare rooted whips. Popular types are beech; hornbeam; hawthorn; blackthorn; field
maples; and dogwood.

Fruit trees as hedging

Step over apples – make an attractive edging to vegetables beds or flowers beds.

Trees

Can be used as an informal barrier, for example hornbeams.

Soil preparation

An important part of planting a hedge is to first improve soil condition. it can be improved with well rotted compost or other improvers such as Bio Life soil conditioner. A planting membrane can help to limit weed activity and retain soil moisture.

A soaker hose can really help hedges establish and thrive. Mulching (using bark chippings, composted bark or well rotted compost) is recommended, a thick layer will help to retain soil moisture and suppress weeds. As much as 90% of soil moisture is lost through evaporation so membranes, soaker hoses and mulching play an important part in maintaining a healthy hedge.

Finally Malcom told us that hedges, especially tall and thick hedges, should be cut to allow more light to the base, so sloping sides are best. Keep hedges narrow at the top and widening gently to the base.

We enjoyed a Q&A session and noted that Q4 fertiliser is strongly recommended (though use only April – August as promotes growth). Bone meal takes a long time to break down in the soil. Blood, fish & bone is preferable to bone meal but not as effective as Q4. Growmore, another old favourite, is similarly ok. Chicken manure pellets are a useful organic fertiliser as is well rotted horse manure.

We enjoyed this really useful session that gave us lots to think about and work on during the winter. It will be interesting to learn from members of any plans for hedges or changes to their maintenance regime.

Interested in joining the Piddle Valley Gardens Club? More details here: Piddle Valley Gardens Club

Come along to our next talk – guests just £2 https://piddlevalley.life/2026/10/30/gardening-the-globe/