ᐅ Garden Photos Chat Corner

Our beech hedge is only now starting to look better in its fourth year. But I’d say… only in some parts. 😳
At the lower area of our property, we have a tough time because of a tree on the adjacent public land. Due to the tree’s root system and the lack of moisture for the hedge, we really had serious problems there. In 2019 and 2020, we had to replace many plants because they simply didn’t survive despite constant watering. It was only this year—with a rather “normal” summer—that the plants finally managed to thrive.
I really like that tree (it provides nice shade in summer), but the perennial bed right next to the hedge is quite challenging. The entire soil is full of fine roots. Just one spade cut pulls out a whole bucket full of tiny roots from the ground.

However, the part of the hedge that was able to grow well from the beginning, and is not affected by the problematic tree, now looks beautiful with its foliage…

But as I said: even where conditions were ideal, it took four years! We pruned properly from the start to encourage branching, and that seems to have worked well!
You need patience, and then the hedge will be just as beautiful!

Wickie schrieb:

At the lower end of the property, we are having serious issues with a tree on the adjacent municipal land. The root zone of the tree and the lack of moisture for the hedge caused real problems there.

In such cases, during drier periods, supporting your hedge with some superficial watering can help.
When planting the hedge, it is very important to ensure that the roots are not twisted in any direction but planted as straight downward as possible with the tips pointing down. This benefits the strength and resilience of the tree throughout its lifetime, as it will be able to root deeper. (This is also one of the reasons why naturally grown trees are usually much more stable than planted ones.)

During the dry periods, we simply couldn’t keep up in the past two years. The gardener (who also planted the hedge back then) was surprised at how struggling the young plants were and how the soil looks because of the municipal tree. But I believe everything should go well now. This year has definitely been easier in terms of dryness, and all the plants look healthy 🙂

ypg schrieb:

I missed that. Show me, with us it only appeared in the third year.

Now, as promised, here are the pictures…. We planted the hedge in April 2020, bought container-grown plants about 80-100cm (31-39 inches) tall. Everything has grown very well so far and I am satisfied. I just don’t know where to prune it now to make it grow denser… My father-in-law simply cut it off at the top in their hedge shown in the first picture… new shoots did grow more at those spots but they grew very tall and uneven… The others in the following pictures we didn’t top, but they are now clearly smaller (about 30cm (12 inches) shorter)…

So, should you cut the top off or not? And do you need to stake every trunk? I’ve seen this sometimes at other newly built houses.
Also, do you prune the hedge in the first years or leave it alone to let it get denser?

ypg schrieb:

Here is our hornbeam hedge in autumn – I really love it at the moment 🙂
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Thanks, we have decided to go with hornbeam instead of cherry laurel. 😉

Tom1978 schrieb:

We will definitely get advice. Thank you very much. And Berlin Neukölln is not far away 😎

It’s been a while, but the Puchert nursery in Zeesen offers fair prices; that’s where we bought our trees. We paid €375 for 4 fruit trees (1.5 - 2 m high (5 - 6.5 feet)) and 3 deciduous trees (aspen, field maple, hornbeam, all between 3 and 4 m high (10 - 13 feet)). They don’t deliver, but they do lend out their trailer.