The quickest, cheapest and in the long run generally the most successful way to get a hedge the neighbours will be jealous of is by using bare root hedging plants.

The time to plant them is from the middle of November onwards (until the end of February really, although with TLC in April they can be planted in March as well).

The time to plan for that planting is NOW.

Tags: Hedging

Faithful followers will have read more than one post on this blog about the various merits of hedging and ornamental trees.  A couple have been their ability to contribute to the security and privacy of your home. 

This is just about pruning cordons – there is a much longer piece on growing cordon fruit trees if you would like to know more.

Cordons should be pruned every year around mid August (i.e. about now). Your cordon is ready for pruning when the new side shoots from the main stem(s) become woody at their base. Shorten all of this new growth from the main stem to 3 or 4 leaves above the basal cluster of leaves at the base of the shoot – see the diagram below.
Where a shoot from the main stem has a side shoot coming of it, prune this also – to one leaf above the cluster of leaves its base.

Tags: Fruit trees

I will be adding to this over the next week or so.

Yew Hedging

If you are planning on planting a yew hedge this autumn, now is the time to start preparing the ground. Mark out the area you are going to plant – bareroot yew hedge plants are always planted in a single row in a trench about 60 cms wide – so that is what you are going to weedkill.