Good hedge to replace leylandii

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by Falesh

I'd like to replace a leylandii hedge with something that will bring a bit more wildlife to our garden. One of the big appeals for the leylandii was that it only took one trim per year to keep it's shape so ideally something like that would be perfect, though two a year is acceptable. It needs to get to about 2.8 meters tall and be dense enough that you can't see through. The soil we have is pretty heavy clay and can get quite waterlogged.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

You never said how big this hedge is My house is tiny and the garden surrounded by wooden fencing panels. I have however added a native hedge, could you put one in to divide a vegetable area from the family garden or something similar? Could you add a couple of wildlife trees inside the Leylandii? Do you have a pond birds like to bathe as do lots of wildlife you seemed so keen i hate to think you would just give up

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I'm not sure how the beech would fare on heavy clay, tom00. As you say, they can make fine hedges that retain their leaves right through the winter until the new shoots break into that unique green colour. The young leaves packed into a jar and covered with gin or vodka and left until the leaves on the hedge turn brown make a beautiful drink

Another similar tree that makes an equally splendid hedge is hornbeam which might be more suited to clay ground. It too retains its leaves right through the winter, the two main differences to beech is that it has a noticeable pattern on the trunk and serrated leaf edges.

I'm looking at a fine beech hedge (my neighbours -not mine) right now and every year blackbirds and thrushes nest in it.

We are on heavy clay and our beech hedge is over 20 yrs old and still going strong..

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

We are on heavy clay and our beech hedge is over 20 yrs old and still going strong..

Ditto, though here the beech hedges are 60 years old. Holly has been bird seeded in over the years in some places. The soil does hold the water ... my neighbour's garden can have standing water in it at times, and my garden grows soft rush at the drop of a hat ... Beech is very easy to keep in shape .. it doesn't put on much growth over the year.

Not sure what they would look like if they grow to 2.8m .. that is a very tall hedge ... I think you need planning permission these days for a hedge that high .... and scaffolding to cut it ...

My parents garden had leylandii hedges and the birds did love them for nesting in. I don't think they are 'bad' hedges .. they only become that if they are let to grow too tall and annoy the neighbours. (Their root system is small. When my parents moved the people who bought their house were told to remove a hedge that abutted the house as the surveyor said it might cause damage to the foundations. So they dug them out and it wasn't difficult as the roots were very shallow and small and not any threat to the foundations . The soil there was light sandy/loam, so not a problem soil, just a problem surveyor ....

What ever you do, AVOID blackthorn unless you like ever expanding thorny thickets.

[fennature]

Hi,

We have large leylandii hedges around our garden as living here in the fens it cuts out the raw winds we get. They are due for a cut back which I do every couple of years, the birds love them so your idea of keeping them and growing plants up them would be a great one.
The amount of finches, tits etc that we get using our garden is stunning and I'm sure this is because of these hedges.
Good luck
Rob