[Daisy]

At the edge of my garden, the ground drops away sharply to my neighbours plot. The soil is held up by a small wall of concrete building blocks.
I wanted to plant a line of young Olea europaea there.  They would be clipped into a hedge.
However, my builder tells me, that the roots would not go down, but out, thereby pushing the wall out and lifting the paving which is the other side of where the hedge would be.
Is this so? Would it be silly to plant young olives there?
Daisy

[Fleur Pavlidis]

I believe the theory is that the roots match the top growth so presumably if you kept chopping off the top the roots would be checked as well and wouldn't go undermining the wall (which I think I agree they would otherwise). My question would be: have you thought about how long these olives would take to make a hedge and wouldn't a row of some bush like Atriplex halimus (the birds love the seed heads), or Viburnum tinus (I have a variety which smells heavenly) be a safer choice?

[David Bracey]

Eleagnus, Arbutus, Rhamnus and Phillyrea all make good hedges but what about their roots?  Frankly I would plant the olives about 3/4 to 1 metre from the wall.  I have not heard that olives produce strong root growth.

[MikeHardman]

I have a similar situation on part of my plot, except there is no retaining wall below - just 40ft of steep/vertical slope.

I decided to plant many small shrubs rather than fewer large ones - ie. lots of rosemaries instead of a few olives. ...The theory being that none of the individual plants will make big or far-reaching roots (hence not disturbing the wall), but the total plant mass would be similar. The roots would also be better distributed where needed (along the line), and the plants would have less top-growth to catch the wind (you don't want the tree/shrub to act as a lever in the wind, prising the soil (or blocks in your case) away from the edge). Also, having a row of stems makes it more effective at building/retaining a slight wall of soil, so winter storm water can be directed along the slope and away - rather than eating gullies into it.

I chose rosemary because it is evergreen, dense, reasonably long-lived, drought-resistant and attractive to butterflies. It is sufficiently dense that it will (I hope) act as a good barrier to the wild (but lovely) weeds on the far side, letting me maintain 'this' side as a path.
Also, having many small plants makes it relatively easy/practicable to replace individuals if/when they die.
And it is easy to propagate rosemary from cuttings.

We'll have to wait to see how my theorizing works in practice!

[John]

Just a small point, hedges aren't hard landscaping!

[Alisdair]

Of course you're right, John - so I've moved the whole topic from its former home in Hard Landscaping and retitled it as Hedging  

[Alisdair]

For Mike Hardman's photos of Tetraclinis articulata and John J's interesting notes on its value as a coniferous hedging plant click here.

[ezeiza]

Why not give the already discussed Teucrium fruticans a chance? At least one of the Cytissus could be grown as a maintenance free hedge.

[Daisy]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.
I think that I will play safe and plant Teucrium fruticans azureum there.
The only drawback with using the teucrium, is having to wait until next year, before I can plant it.
The local garden centers, do stock Teucrium fruticans, but they are not in flower at this time of year. I have learnt that they do not know which variety they have of any plant!

Sorry Alisdair, for putting this question under Hard Landscaping. I was thinking more about the possible effect the olive roots would have, on the paving and concrete block wall.
Daisy

[Alisdair]

Don't worry about that, Daisy! I could see why you  it into Hard Landscaping, a perfectly good place for your original query, but you started off such an interesting discussion about hedging generally that it was worth setting it up as the Hedging topic.

[MikeHardman]

Just a passing observation...
When walking in Paphos the other day. I noticed that some of the (fair-sized) weeping figs planted as street trees had been clipped not only on their sides and tops, but on the underside as well. Standing on the pavement and looking up you saw a continuous surface of green leaves every bit as dense and healthy as on the better-lit faces!
Weeping figs continue to amaze me - how they support such a big canopy with a relatively small trunk, how they contrive to stay glossy despite the summer dustiness, how the leaves fail to droop despite months of hot dry summer... ...beats me!

[Slatsy79]

Hi All,

As the status shows to my left this is my first post as a Newbie so I'll start by giving a few details on my situation (and eventually why I have started this thread which does concern hedging, I promise!)

My family (future wife and two kids - Jack who's 2 and Matilda just 8 months) and I have a plot of land on the outskirts of Algaida in Mallorca which we have just started building our future home on. It is 15,000m2 of which 5000m2 is virgin woodland and the rest is flat rock (exept about 6in of topsoil) so, with only the experience of a 25m2 garden in Todmorden, Lancashire we thought we should try and learn some things before we get there in Spring 2013.

The long term plan is to start with roughly 1000m2 to the garden/pool area; 2500m2 to a small vinyard; 500m2 to a veg plot then 500m2 to cerials and 500m2 for a couple of pigs and chickens. Not sure on the rest yet and the above is flexible on required demand on time/potential to failure.

Now, about the hedging. We want to start planting the perimeter hedge now as it is out of the way of the construction thus giving it more time to mature. As we have absolutely no experience of gardening in Mallorca (and very little here if I'm honest) some suggestions of types and any handy info would be very much appreciated. Also, as explained above, the ground is mainly 6in of topsoil then solid limestone so we will also need some guidance on how best to start these off. The perimeter is pretty big and we would like to keep costs down if possible and we would certainly consider a mix of varieties, even bramble, sloe etc.

Thanks for reading!

Sam

[David Bracey]

Sam hello, suggest for starters you go to the top of the page  and write "hedging" in the search box.  This will give you lots of choices which you can google.  Also depends what is available, cost etc.  You need to get planting asap with any winter rain.  Dig a hole plenty big enough to take the roots/rootball.  No need for anything special at this stage except to get planting.  David

[Fleur Pavlidis]

Sam, when I was the Secretary of the Mediterranean Garden Society it was my job to answer gardening questions from all and sundry. When I got questions like “Where can I buy a fully grown poplar tree?” or “How can I make the grass grow round my olive trees?” I would answer: “you know it’s really not best to plant a fully grown tree” and “unfortunately lawns are not suitable for a mediterranean garden”.  I realized that these responses were not welcome from the lack of thanks or the sarcastic reply in the latter case. All this is a preamble to my suggestion that you don’t need to plant a hedge all the way round a 4 acre estate. It would be quite a waste of your time and resources. A simple link fence will keep out the sheep and any other wanderers. To grow anything in your difficult circumstances is going to take an effort – one hole can take half an hour crashing with a pike-axe. In my view the time when you’re building the house can be an opportunity for you to study your land and look out for the spots in where the soil is a little deeper and a pretty shrub or small tree might grow. Consider the existing shrubby plants and see if you can clip them into a pleasing roundish shape. They will be the basis of your landscape. Watch out for winter flowering bulbs which you won’t have seen in the summer and could easily be destroyed if you start moving soil. Learn what local varieties of grape can grow in your conditions. Join the MGS and see how other members are faring. Plant a few things but regard them as experimental, the best way to learn is by experience. Don’t lose heart if you have failures, you’ll see that a lot of this Forum is concerned with what went wrong. Good luck.

[Janet Ibbotson]

I completely agree with Fleur.  I have been trying to establish a hedge along my Western boundary fence for three years now and it is not a success.  The main reason being that it is along the road, gets baked in summer and I haven't the resources to water or set up an irrigation system for something which is no more really than a boundary fence.  The only things to survive (just) so far are a couple of pyracantha, arbutus and oleander but none are prospering.  Far more useful has been shaping and encouraging the existing and well placed mastic, carob, olive and even broom to grow.  In other areas where I thought a hedge would help, it turns out that a few well placed trees or shrubs provide better protection and privacy and are much more suited to the landscape.