Ask Gerry

My soil is clay and I planted a Hornbeam hedge last February. I didn't cut it back when I planted it and it is very bare at the bottom. Could I cut it back at this time of year to encourage it to sprout at the bottom in the spring? Also I'm going to plant another little Hornbeam hedge soon but was thinking of inter planting holly, would this work as a hedge?

I have a Golden Leylandi hedge about 30 yrs old, the back of which is completely bare. Can you recommend a replacement hedge that can withstand wind and heavy frost.

Will a holly (Ilex aquifolium) hedge be suitable for planting very close to the sea and also be resistant to a heavy frost. How large are the plants available to buy from nurseries as I would like it to be as high as possible?

100ft long, 16ft high, lived through all the frost, Beautiful. But now we redoing paving on one side and the wall on the other side has no foundation and needs to be replaced. Hedge growing beside it. ? do we replace it and or take our chances that it will live another bad frost winter? or will it die and we will have to rip up our new paving?

I planted a Laurel hedge last March, it has grown vigoursly, is now (mid October) a good time to start pruning it ?.

I have a large rural garden surrounded by fairly flat fields, so the prevailing wind is stronger than usual. i want to block this wind as much as possible using trees and shrubs. any suggestions?

Would it be too late in late Sept. to trim a laurel hedge?

I have a laurel hedge that is about 2/3 year old. However i only planted it last october. Should I prune the hedge and put fertiliser on it for the winter? I want the hedge to be thick and tall. Some of the trees are filling out while others are quite tall and not so thick.

My grissilinia hedge was badly dmged by frost, but is showing signs of life now. I have pruned all the dead wood. I now have 1/2 hedge with spindly limbs, & the other 1/2 is cut down to the ground as new shoots are coming. Should i leave these long spindly (but healthy) limbs, & wait for the new shoots to "catchup" or cut them back too ...ie start the hedge from scratch?

I planted bareroot Blackthorn / whitethorn hedge in January 2010 and some of the plants have developed well and are over 3ft high while others are developing at a slower pace. However, in order to develop the thickness of the hedge and promote growth near the base of the plant should I cut the hedge back at this stage or should i let it develop to the required height (maybe 6ft) first.

what is the best hedge to grow?

I have an 1/2 acre garden with a thornbush border but I have problems getting rid of weeds around the trees. I have used weedkiller and have got rid of some weeds but it grows back again.

Laurel hedge, planted 5 years age, 12ft hi, never trimmed on top, want to grow another 3ft high, worried that bottom of hedge will will start to go bare, should I trim top to prevent this?

I have an 8 yr old Beech hedge which has begun to die back in the past 3 years in sections. I have heavy clay. On reading your problem section, if the die back is caused by a root rot or fungus is there anything I can treat the ground with in order to replant and should i use a different plant type?

Would you recommend a name of a fast growing hedge and one that would stand up against the winters we are having of late?