# Hedges



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have hedges

Alberts always trimmed them to perfection, but he’s getting old and the hedges were getting high

A good few years ago we had them reduced by a chance gypsy, he reduced the tops an excellent job and said the top cover would grow back in which it did over time 

This time we choose a tree specialist 

He cut off the tops to about 10ft ,and after years we expected that it was none to pretty to view from above, say from the bedroom windows 

He trimmed straight across the outside of the hedges and all is fine , the same of half the inside at one side of the gate 

Albert left to go to the bank , he wanted cash, meanwhile he or his assistant clipped the inside around each individual tree as an individual tree deep around it , exposing all the dead centres in the the large gaps between the trees

The middle of the garden, composed of different tress he left about a 1 /12foot higher than the front

We were lucky a trip to the garden Center revealed Yew trees 6ft high, in pots a bit brown round the edges, they have peen in the pots too long with Covid explained the guy, they were £75 but you can have them for £10 a piece and they will be fine 

We needed 6 to fill the gaps, the roots were strong and fine and we cut away all the dead wood from the conifers to give them clear space to grow 

Two people worked for less than 6 hrs , charged £400 and devastated the hedge that Albert has tended for 30 years 

It’s still a secret garden,not visible from the road, and the hedges silence the traffic noise and that’s the way I like , it’s way our birds like it too

And I haven’t quite forgiven Albert for allowing our hedges to be decimated , but he’s worked non stop for weeks repairing the damage

I’ll send photos Alan if it stops raining 

Sandra


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

OK.

If your original hedge was Yew you don't need to worry too much, it will recover in time. 

Yew pines-needles-leaves-foliage do not much resemble those of other conifers, so it's not hard to determine whether it is or is not yew.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

No the hedge is conifer Alan

We’ve filled the gaps with yew hopefully it will grow to fill the gaps

If we were planting a hedge from scratch today we wouldn’t choose conifer, but to be fair it’s served us well

I just have a particular love for yew, so that’s what we chose to repair the gaps, 6 ,6ft bushy trees are going a long way to filling the gaps and blocking the dead middles 

Sandra


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

6ft yew bushes will take quite a while to establish and you will need to watch for summer dry periods for a couple of years at least, you will lose them if they dry out.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

There are many conifers Sandra. Yew is one of them.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Conifers as hedges often cause problems when pruned as their regeneration is patchy, they cannot regrow if they are down to "brown" wood as the buds are dead there.

Yew is very slow growing to maturity, but beautiful although it is toxic to animals and children. Sadly, a 6' high Yew will probably only grow to about 10after about 5 - 10 years and to full maturity (20m) after a couple of hundred......

As Dick said, do keep them watered for a couple of years, particularly uf there are dry sunny periods as the roots are also slow growing and need the support of artificial watering. Most trees need watering for about a year, double that, plus a bit, for yew and keep an eye on it so it does not become stressed if dry conditions prevail even in winter. They love clay soil and can tolerate winter flooding !

Fascinating tree, the oldest trees around !

https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/blog/yew-hedging-suppliers-growing-yew

I did not realise that there are so many types of Yew (_Taxus baccata_ around, although I suppose I should not be surprised, the RHS page has some good advice on specific sub-species;

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/yew


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Penquin said:


> Conifers as hedges often cause problems when pruned as their regeneration is patchy, they cannot regrow if they are down to "brown" wood as the buds are dead there.


There are one or two which will break from brown wood. Yew in particular does.

But pruning back into the brown wood almost always ruins all other species. It's a common amateur mistake that no competent or trained person working for a reputable business should ever make.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

As above, Sandra, do remember that Yew is toxic to children and animals. I know to my cost  One of my dogs ate some as a pup and ended up at the vets with a drug to induce vomiting. Thank goodness Chris saw her do it. The garden had been planned by an expert and he was told that we wanted no toxic plants as we had dogs, and horses and goats. It, when we went to get the plants, was called Taxus so we did not twig that it was Yew. Pun intended.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes our hedge was cypress and Leyland, some cut back into brown some just cut as though the hedge was a line of individual trees rather than a hedge, exposing the dead inner space

We have yew in the side hedges Pat , we also have a rather magnificent laburnum tree, so not a poison free zone. None of our dogs have ever eaten them

The new yew trees have spread well and for £10each look amazingly healthy tall and bushy, and are filling the gaps

Albert has put in wooden shuttering behind the small border wall and raised the whole border, filled it with fresh home made compost , and planted the front up with crocuses and daffodils so next spring maybe a disaster will be a positive 

Something of benefit to come out of the Covid lockdown 

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

erneboy said:


> There are one or two which will break from brown wood. Yew in particular does.
> 
> But pruning back into the brown wood almost always ruins all other species. It's a common amateur mistake that no competent or trained person working for a reputable business should ever make.


It's a mistake that Albert has never made either Alan, he was training young Albert and was very proud of his hedges, but the height was beginning to make it difficult as he gets older , too much clipping from a high ladder

Of course we were under the impression we were getting a firm of tree surgeons , got two separate quotes , both around the £400 mark , and obviously choose the wrong one to do the job

As it turns out it's taken Albert twice as long to repair the damage and straighten up t he levels on top , and it will take time for the Cypress to regenerate but at least we remain secluded thanks to the yew trees , the outsides thankfully were trimmed straight across and I'm thinking the boss did it, the inside when the boss went to tip the cuttings from the top and outside and Albert went to the bank I think were done by the other guy but why he cut round individual trees is beyond me

Sandra


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Do they know that you are not happy with the work?


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

No, the truth is we are not really into complaints Alan 

Albert left to get money, I told him he should just have insisted to pay by check and observed and monitored the work throughout 

I think it’s Alberts fault, but he was hoping to get someone who would continue to trim the hedges which is why he had the sides trimmed as well as the tops reduced 

Well it won’t be that firm that does it in the future once it gets beyond Albert, young Albert was devastated too, I’ll do it in future he said, although in the past he has trimmed some areas a bit near the bone for an 19yr old he’s not done a bad job, but it’s not his favourite activity 

But thinking about it we may email him and ask him to call in an explain the damage before putting a bad review on his site and contacting check a trade .com which I think he was registered with, I wouldn’t want damage anyone’s livelihood and the reviews and photos were positive which is why we choose him 

Still we live an learn and I prefer yew anyway, and we saved £65 per yew tree thanks to the Covid slump which went a long way to repair the damage

You know me, full of sound and fury , signifying nothing :wink2:

Sandra:grin2:


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

You should go over it with him, if only to save him from repeating it. Next time he might meet somebody who is not quite so forgiving and find himself facing a demand to make restitution. Think what that would cost him.

If you left your car in a garage to have it polished and they ruined your paintwork you'd want it put right.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Sandra,

Did you check independently the reviews and registrations by going to other customers before agreeing,nthere has been a great number of supposed professionals who have faked all of their supposed registrations and had friendsvwrite their reviews for them. Many of the supposed reviewers may not have had any work done at all.

Did you get a bill and receipt with registration details and a VAT number, which of course assumes his turnover is above a crucial figure (I am not sure what value that is now but am sure others will know it)?


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## Ozzyjohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Penquin said:


> Sandra,
> 
> Did you check independently the reviews and registrations by going to other customers before agreeing,nthere has been a great number of supposed professionals who have faked all of their supposed registrations and had friendsvwrite their reviews for them. Many of the supposed reviewers may not have had any work done at all.
> 
> Did you get a bill and receipt with registration details and a VAT number, which of course assumes his turnover is above a crucial figure (I am not sure what value that is now but am sure others will know it)?


I'm pretty sure that the current threshold is £85,000 turnover per year for VAT registration.

Regards,
John


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well at £400 for less than 6 hrs work ?

Although cash only , I doubt he even pays tax on it never mind VAT 

As I said we were so shocked at the devastation 

But we’ve bought 3 more yew trees, the guy at garden centre by now helps Albert choose the best of the trees and at £10 for a 6ft+ yew tree we are not complaining 

That’s 9 6ft+ yew trees to plug the gaps they created , that’s some gaps

I’ll take a photograph tomorrow, he’s cut away some of the damage at the bottom and exposed sides of the cypress trees to make room for the yew trees to make more room in the gaps for the Yew to flourish 

Hopefully you will see how a hedge became badly cut individual trees , cut beyond the green , and I’ll find a photo of before when Albert trimmed them 

Sandra


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