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  Ofer El-hashahar April 24, 2010 at 8:17pm

  You will find that just a normal hedge create a wall like- so you actually transfer a garden to a room- just like indoor, but been a bit creative you can create screening in many ways.
  
  1. for example bamboo- there beautiful evergreen ones- easy to get them big- you will create something that moves with the wind- If so use bamboo root barrier to control it's spreading.
  2. fruit trees- dwarf ones or espalie shape.
  3. low shrubs and a standard every few metre- (tiny tree shape). In that case you can use shrubs with colorful leaves to get colour all year around
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  Benedict Green April 25, 2010 at 7:14am

  I'd agree with Hornbeam or another popular tree for pleaching is Lime (Tilia cordata).
  I've heard rumour of pleached leylandii?! Never seen it though.
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  Tim Haywood April 25, 2010 at 8:19am

  I visited the winter garden at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridge earlier this year. I noticed these on the walk into Cambridge from the hotel:
  
  

  
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  Gareth April 25, 2010 at 12:53pm

  Thanks for replies.
  
  Already some large stands of bamboo which are very effective screens. The proposed screen , needs to remain open at ground level though and not be too imposing/shading. Good point about a frame enabling a narrower hedge. There are already hornbeam hedges on site thats the natural choice but I like the idea of espaliered/pleached fruit trees, maybe a Crab Apple.
  
  Any guesses how old those trees at Anglesey Abbey are. It was this sort of thing I had in mind.
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  Tim Haywood April 25, 2010 at 1:14pm

  Gareth,
  
  I'm not sure on their age. They are on a street called Howes Place in Cambridge, not at Anglesey Abbey.
  
  Can be seen in leaf here:
  
  http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=sq399yh077tr&s...
  
  Gareth said:

  Any guesses how old those trees at Anglesey Abbey are. It was this sort of thing I had in mind.
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  Gareth April 25, 2010 at 1:18pm

  Nice!
  
  Tim Haywood said:

  Gareth,
  
  I'm not sure on their age. They are on a street called Howes Place in Cambridge, not at Anglesey Abbey.
  
  Can be seen in leaf here:
  
  http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=sq399yh077tr&s...
  
  Gareth said:

  Any guesses how old those trees at Anglesey Abbey are. It was this sort of thing I had in mind.
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  John Ingham April 26, 2010 at 10:01am

  This is an almost daily question for me, not only because I run a company selling trees and hedges online but also because I have recently lost, along with my neighbours, a 21 year battle to prevent building on ex-allotment land at the end of my own garden. Allowing building on small plots of ground, frequently garden plots in built up areas, has been a feature of planning decisions over the last 10 years, though I hear that Government policy is finally turning against it. Too late for our neighbourhood I'm afraid.
  Customers frequently want screening along the edge of their premises. Usually they want the screening to be evergreen and here lies the first problem. Neighbours and/or the local authority can object to evergreen hedges over 2m tall and require them to be reduced to this height. This is often too low for the desired screening. In addition most pleached hedging is not evergreen. Pleaching is expensive to buy and tricky to maintain in good shape. Access to the back of the framework is necessary which can be difficult in screening situations. Of course planting a screen some way back from the boundary of a garden can solve several of these problems. Generally I would think however that pleaching is a solution for keen gardeners who want a formal look in their garden rather than simply screening off a view.
  Assuming for a moment that there is no problem with an evergreen hedge over 2m high then the best screens are the more obvious ones like Thuja plicata (Western Red Cedar) or Leylands. These have a bad reputation when they are left to grow without clipping but both make excellent tall hedges where someone is prepared to clip them twice a year. The same goes for Yew but it is much slower. All these species would need around 90cm of border width. Laurels can also make good dense hedging but really need pruning with secateurs rather than hedge trimmers to avoid ugly browning of the leaves. All of these require access to the back of the plants to keep a good hedge.
  Standard trees could make a decent screen but keep in mind the final height they will attain. For instance Poplars, which are deciduous, can be planted close together but may finish up 50ft high or more. Other trees such as Acers or Holm Oaks could be planted close but it will be hard to keep them as a hedge unless someone is prepared to have them cut professionally every year. Otherwise they will become a line of mature trees which, in the case of Holm Oaks especially, will be huge.
  I would say that a hedge on legs is possible for any of these species but the amount of maintenance could make them a problem. The higher they grow, and the closer to a garden edge they are, the more problems there could be in keeping them as hedges rather than rows of trees.
  John Ingham IMPACT PLANTS
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  claudia de yong April 26, 2010 at 11:41am

  Totally agree with this. Many people see these wonderful pleached trees and think it is an easy way to screen neighbours but forget the problem of access to trim the other side and the maintenance issue of keeping them tied in and well pruned to achieve a pleasing effect-that is why they look better as an avenue of trees.
  
  I have planted a thuja hedge for a client with when cut back looks great and forms a wonderful 'barrier' to next door. They don't trim their side so unfortunately it only looks good on one side but that is the one that matters.
  
  Espalier fruit , I don't think will give you the coverage you are looking for.
  
  John Ingham said:

  This is an almost daily question for me, not only because I run a company selling trees and hedges online but also because I have recently lost, along with my neighbours, a 21 year battle to prevent building on ex-allotment land at the end of my own garden. Allowing building on small plots of ground, frequently garden plots in built up areas, has been a feature of planning decisions over the last 10 years, though I hear that Government policy is finally turning against it. Too late for our neighbourhood I'm afraid.
  Customers frequently want screening along the edge of their premises. Usually they want the screening to be evergreen and here lies the first problem. Neighbours and/or the local authority can object to evergreen hedges over 2m tall and require them to be reduced to this height. This is often too low for the desired screening. In addition most pleached hedging is not evergreen. Pleaching is expensive to buy and tricky to maintain in good shape. Access to the back of the framework is necessary which can be difficult in screening situations. Of course planting a screen some way back from the boundary of a garden can solve several of these problems. Generally I would think however that pleaching is a solution for keen gardeners who want a formal look in their garden rather than simply screening off a view.
  Assuming for a moment that there is no problem with an evergreen hedge over 2m high then the best screens are the more obvious ones like Thuja plicata (Western Red Cedar) or Leylands. These have a bad reputation when they are left to grow without clipping but both make excellent tall hedges where someone is prepared to clip them twice a year. The same goes for Yew but it is much slower. All these species would need around 90cm of border width. Laurels can also make good dense hedging but really need pruning with secateurs rather than hedge trimmers to avoid ugly browning of the leaves. All of these require access to the back of the plants to keep a good hedge.
  Standard trees could make a decent screen but keep in mind the final height they will attain. For instance Poplars, which are deciduous, can be planted close together but may finish up 50ft high or more. Other trees such as Acers or Holm Oaks could be planted close but it will be hard to keep them as a hedge unless someone is prepared to have them cut professionally every year. Otherwise they will become a line of mature trees which, in the case of Holm Oaks especially, will be huge.
  I would say that a hedge on legs is possible for any of these species but the amount of maintenance could make them a problem. The higher they grow, and the closer to a garden edge they are, the more problems there could be in keeping them as hedges rather than rows of trees.
  John Ingham IMPACT PLANTS
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  Gareth April 26, 2010 at 5:16pm

  All valid considerations. One of the reasons for using a pleached hedge is that the stems are clear for the first 6ft (or whatever you want) and can be placed away from the garden boundary, in this case some distance within the garden. It can then provide screening for specific areas from overlooking new buildings but maintain an openness in the clients garden. Wider evergreens can be too imposing. A deciduous species maybe a small tree (like a Field Maple or a Crab Apple or a Crataegus) can still break up sight lines enough to be effective, without creating an impenetrable block, and an yearly or half yearly trim is not too demanding maintenance wise?. Right plant right place principle I guess.
  
  Presumably the high hedges legislation doesn’t concern a line of trees away from a boundary?
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  Sally Bishton July 15, 2012 at 9:01pm

  I am reviving an old discussion here, but has anyone put in tall standard photinias in a garden, the type that has bare stems to 1.8m and foliage above?

  They would be a good design solution for one of my clients, but would appreciate hearing from anyone that has already specified them; in case there are any issues I should be aware of as they are  an expensive option. The clients have access to both sides of the boundary for maintenance.  The trees would have lower height planting in front of them to screen a fence. An irrigation system would be put in place. Aspect is west facing.