A hedge!!!

[mijas-lady]

Hi I have decided to close off the back of my house to the community gardens with a hedge-what Plants/shrubs/conifers should i get??? and can anyone recommend a garden centre close to estacion de cartama

[Faire d'Income]

You'd be looking at either those smaller conifers which you can pick up for €1.00 or possibly thyme which grows well as a hedge.

[El Cid]

How high do you want the hedge to grow to?

Sid

[country boy]

There's a nice little vivero just outside Cartama Estacion going towards Santa Rosalia )just passed the Sexmo turn-off. The Spanish use Cypress.

[karandjon]

hi, we bought nearly 700 tuyos in February/march this year at about 40cm tall, planted them and they are already nearly a metre high and bushing outwards slightly.

we were told that the cypruss grow up first then bush out after you´ve cut tops off (once at height you require) whereas the Tuyas are popular with the spanish as they grow in height a bit slower but bush out as they grow upwards.

We are more than pleased with our. they were e1.50 each, but got them down to e1.30 including delivery.

hope this helps,

karen

[hillybilly]

What are tuyos?

[Grouser]

Probably Thuja's.
Personally I don't think evergreen trees make good hedge material as, if they get out of hand, you cannot cut them back severely without creating large bald patches (holly is an exception, as is probably evergreen oak). They then look terrible. I would use deciduous trees with small leaves, or shrubs. I hesitate to recommend anything in particular as I'm not sure what would do well in Spain. Pyrocantha and vigorous roses might be a possibility.

[El Cid]

I would recommencd Myoporum Laetum - Trasparente in Spanish.

It's cheap to buy and it grows really fast. We planted some 15cm plants and they are 3-4m high after 3 years.

They are evergreen and can be hacked back brutally if you wish. If you trim them neatly they will grow into a really nice compact hedge. If you let them grow they will grow to 5m.

We also have a hedge of Oleander (Adelfa). They have grown as fast as the Trasparente and look fabulous when in flower.

I wouldn't touch conifers. If you cut them back they are always brown in the middle and grow relatively slowly. Leylandii will not survive the heat.

Sid

[Grouser]

Quite right Sid, Conifers is what I should have said rather than evergreens. Their other disadvantage as hedges is that they are not a very conducive wildlife habitat.

[karandjon]

the word is "tuya" and tey grow wonderfully. the garden centre we bought them from had a very sturdy hedge around the centre from them. we planted 4 to a metre and are very pleased with them.

karen