living fence

[paradox]

The council house im moving in to has waist high wire mesh fencing in the back garden.
I would like a little more privicy in the garden but i dont want to put those huge ugly wooden panels and concrete posts in.
My ideal would be a growing fence that would atract bennificial wild life.
I am toying with the idea of growing willow from cuttings as i could cut this in future to make screens and baskets etc.

Has anyone had any experiance with growing willow as fencing or does anyone have another suggestion for a suitable living fence?

[2steps]

you could have the wooden panels and then grow plant up or along them. our fence was built from old pallets so not pretty butworks. I grew runner beans against it and am going to train my passionflower along it to make it look nicer

[wulf]

How long are you likely to be there? A living fence will take some time to come to maturity, especially if you're working on a budget and beginning with relatively immature plants.

Wulf

[DaisyDaisy]

Paradox, I quite understand wanting more privacy in your garden but would suggest looking for an alternative to willow as the roots have a tendency to head with determination towards any source of water - so could cause havoc with drains and foundation - although it's not your property it's still worth taking into consideration so you don't get asked later to remove it - it's hard work removing willow roots.

How about a hazel or beech hedge? If you google for something like "british native hedge plant" you can find some other suggestions.

[baldowrie]

I would not suggest willow as the roots would got too deep and interfere with your drainage pipes etc. Why not go for traditional hedging plants?

All living hedge would take a while to give privacy so in the mean time may I suggest possibly one of the cheaper ways of giving a degree of privacy is good old trellis...please check your lease on fence and hedge heights before doing anything.

[paradox]

cheers for the suggestions people.

its a big shame about the root problem as willow looks so nice when its woven together whilst its growing.

[baldowrie]

you can do similar things with privet

[red]

perhaps you should give thought to a food fence. you could put in trained apple tree against the fence, or plant an annual crop of jerusulam artichokes, or plant loganberries, or grow kiwi fruit or onamental quince ( i made fantastic jam and jelly from ours) the list goes on...

[hedgewizard]

I'm in the middle of planning an edible hedge, so I'll give you the link to Buckingham Nurseries hedging section - they've got lots of good stuff and the prices are much lower than I've found elsewhere. As a rule of thumb native species will attract more wildlife than exotics, but they've got a lot more specific info in there.

[Wombat]

you can do similar things with privet

I dunno about you lot, but privet is a noxious weed here, it used to be very popular for hedges and once you got it...............you got it!

Nev

[HILLDREAMER90]

Privet i'sent too difficult to control,the main problem with it is heavy shade & is greedy for nutrients in a small gdn.A.

[paradox]

what about establishing a hawthorn hedge? or is there set backs with that?