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Gardening in the UK

hedge for hen-run

21 years ago

This is a longish-term project: I'd like to hedge part of a field as a hen-run, which means the hedge needs to be dense from the ground up and 6 feet tall. I thought of privet, because I believe it's quite fast-growing, but it would be nice to have a mixture. Suggestions gratefully received.

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Comments (3)

YewTree
21 years ago
I've always found privet a bit of a waste of time, very weak and easy to push through, pull out, break etc, though if you really want to use it use italian privet as it is a little thicker growing than English privet. If you truly want an inpenterable hedge that nothing shall get through have a crack at traditional hedge laying, a very old and neglected technique that is slowly having a bit of a rebirth. have a look at

http://www.hedgelaying.org.uk/

and also

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/6

as for species, look at what 'shrub' species are local to your geology and plant five different species in your hedge with about 60-70% hawthorn/blackthorn
alcina
21 years ago
If you're going to use privet you'll need to put a chicken wire fence in it at ground level, otherwise the chickens will push through. Although privet might be thick higer up, usually at ground level there's more than enough space for a chicken to get through. Box is thicker at the base, but you want it 6' tall and that'll take some time! :)

Alcina
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