Copper beachwood hedging

[Waterman]

Its the red-leafed version of the normal beachwood hedging, was just wondering if anyone has any experience with it?

[babybud3232]

can't say I have...hope you get the info your after:)

[tricone]

It's pretty much the same as the green version in terms of speed of growth, hardiness, etc.

The only thing is that it can be visually very dominating in a garden as a hedge, the dark colour can be too much and it can look unnatural.

[Waterman]

It's pretty much the same as the green version in terms of speed of growth, hardiness, etc.

The only thing is that it can be visually very dominating in a garden as a hedge, the dark colour can be too much and it can look unnatural.

yes but if you prune them and keep ontop of them you can grow them into small bushes or have them in big plant pots. I seen one growing in a whisky barrel plant pot in someones garden once. Another lovely red leaved plant is the japanese maple tree, they look very nice if grown next to a garden pond.

[marmalade dreams]

We have a beech hedge that includes the copper version running the length of our garden. It grows the same as the regular type, but I have to say I wouldn't choose it as hedging, it was planted prior to us buying the house. It grows quite straggley, you really do need to keep on top of it or it just looks a mess. The dry autumn leaves stay on the bloody thing all winter and for most of the spring and it appears dead..... or a strong wind will leave you with a stick hedge for months until it eventually grows back, plus loads and loads of leaves to rake up. As you can probably tell, I'm not particularly enamoured with it, but it 's quite established now and creates a screen between me and the neighbours. It certainly does a job, but I wouldn't chose it personally.

edit: I think I've made up the word straggley, but hope you get the picture :)

[carpetburn]

hawthorn is a good hedging:) keeps the riff raff out

[katy]

well I have both hawthorn and copper beech in my hedge, I planted them 4 haw to 1 beech.

The beech is slower to take off than the haw, and so it's mostly crowded out, but I will probably select a couple to grow tall out of the hedgeline.

As marm says, they keep their leaves through the winter, which some people think is a bonus as it maintains the screen, but to be honest, Iv'e never had a leaf clearing problem, I just leave em to rot down.

Plant them in the winter from bare rooted stock then next winter, cut them back to 4 internodes (feels totally brutal!) to make a really bushy hedge the year after.

IMO mixed hedges are the best, but not the easiest or prettyiest, and not what you would want in the garden.

Beech are a fantastic tree though, one of my favorites

[Waterman]

alright, cheers for the info. Il have a scope at it

[Ganesha]

hawthorn is a good hedging:) keeps the riff raff out

I have a Berberis darwinii which is a spectacular anti-burglar plant. I'm hoping it will eventually take over from the Elder tree next to it & provide a decent screen from the neighbours as well as protection. Problem is it's less than 3 feet high & over the last 4 years has grown about 9 inches. :(

[carpetburn]

have you tried the nutes on it?could be worth a go:bigjoint:

[Ganesha]

have you tried the nutes on it?could be worth a go:bigjoint:

It was living in a pot & I only put it into the ground this Spring. Lots of compost & such dug in first but it'll take at least a year to get established there. It did have a few flowers this year for the first time so I think it'll be ok.

[katy]

I have a Berberis darwinii

Ohh yes, I know this one well, it's the one with inch long thorns that are very brittle, have you tried getting them out of your skin when they sink in at right angles and break off?, it's a great passtime!

The best way is leave it for a few days till it goes septic and squeeze like a spot! lol

Makes a great hedge but is slow and quite squat, lovely purple ones are available as well as green

[Ganesha]

Ohh yes, I know this one well, it's the one with inch long thorns that are very brittle, have you tried getting them out of your skin when they sink in at right angles and break off?, it's a great passtime!

The best way is leave it for a few days till it goes septic and squeeze like a spot! lol

Makes a great hedge but is slow and quite squat, lovely purple ones are available as well as green

Yeah, that's the one - great security hedging. I only found out a while ago that as well as the beautiful golden yellow flowers they also have edible berries you can make into jam & wine. :) :)

[Duke1]

one of my faves is the copper beech,grows much like the green one ,though more fragile,dont like strong winds,other than that there hardy.makes pukka bonsai to as the leaves reduce well.