ᐅ Garden Photos Chat Corner

Snowy36 schrieb:

So now, as promised, the pictures …. We planted the hedge in April 2020, and bought container-grown plants 80-100cm (31-39 inches) tall. Everything has established very well so far, and I’m satisfied. However, I don’t know where to prune it now so that it becomes dense… My father-in-law just cut the top off theirs in the first picture… at those spots it sprouted more, but grew very tall and very uneven… the others in the following pictures we didn’t cut the top of, but they are now noticeably smaller (about 30cm (12 inches) smaller)…

So, do you also cut off the top, yes or no? And does each stem need a support stake? I’ve seen that sometimes in other new builds.
And in the first years, do you prune the hedge at all, or is it better not to so it becomes denser?

Don’t worry. The hedge is still quite young. The spacing looks properly close.
I read somewhere that the main stem will grow upwards if it senses, through its side branches, that it can’t grow further outwards.
If I do the math… ours is 7 years old and has been really dense since 2018 (except near the base). By the fourth year, we were roughly satisfied. But we started with 120cm (47 inches) tall bare-root plants…
We never trimmed the tops to even the height. Our plants were pretty uniform from the start anyway.
Also, as you describe, I always pruned the side shoots a bit to encourage more branching. Whether this was the right approach, I’m not sure. Hornbeam hedges require patience. Yours will get there.
Some did not survive, and we had to reorder replacements (online). I think we had about 80 plants and had to make claims for 20.

Be patient, and eventually you’ll have a nice hedge.

2018 (4 years)

matte1987 schrieb:

Thanks, we decided to go with hornbeam instead of cherry laurel. 😉

If you like Pinterest garden pictures, this is not for you. They shed their dry leaves starting in spring – which means extra work, or you practice tolerance and respect for nature. 😉

ypg schrieb:

If you like Pinterest garden pictures, then this isn’t for you. They shed their dry leaves starting in spring—it means extra work, or you can practice tolerance and respect for nature 😉

That’s exactly why I want it! 😉

So far, I’ve only chosen evergreen plants because I want privacy even in winter.
I didn’t know there was something like the hornbeam.
Leaves just fall, that’s how it is—I just bought a leaf blower, so it’s not such a big deal... 😉

Tolentino schrieb:



And of course, I would try to get a mulberry tree to bear fruit.

May I ask why you say "try"?

They are actually self-pollinating. By the way, we have two of them.

We bought one at about 70cm (28 inches) tall, and after one year it’s already 1.5 meters (59 inches) tall and had an impressive 15 berries 😀 😀

I thought the other one had died from drying out, so I repotted it, and suddenly it recovered.

matte1987 schrieb:

That’s exactly why I want it! 😉

So far, I’ve only used evergreen plants because I want privacy protection even in winter.
I didn’t know there was something like the hornbeam.
Leaves are just leaves, but I recently bought a leaf blower, so it’s not such a big deal… 😉

We ended up choosing Ligustrum Atrovirens for a similar purpose. They grow very dense, have fine leaves, and are easy to trim.

guckuck2 schrieb:

We ended up with a similar goal in mind using Ligustrum Atrovirens. They grow very dense, have fine leaves, and are easy to trim.

That is also a very nice hedge. But unlike hornbeam, it’s pure boredom 😉 … which isn’t even shown here 😉 … our cherry laurel piece doesn’t interest anyone either, that’s how boring it is.