Thanks to recent storms, thousands of garden fences have blown down and needed to be replaced, and thousands more have required remedial repairs, but this is nothing new. Wooden fences need regular maintenance but, despite your best efforts, will gradually rot and eventually need to be replaced.
Hedging as a solution
The obvious answer to the problem of fences being blown down by strong winds is not to have a fence at all. If you look around the British countryside, solid screening has always and traditionally been provided by hedgerows, many still existing are hundreds of years old and, although they provide shelter, they also allow air to pass through and around them, making them perfectly tolerant of winds and won’t blow down. In addition to this, screening using plants, with its softening effect, can actually be better at cutting down noise than a solid screen such as a fence or wall would be. So, from a practical stand-point, there are a number of situations where hedging makes sense.
Maintaining a hedge
If carefully chosen – the right plants for the right hedge for the right place, maintaining a hedge does not need to be hard work or as frequent as some may think. You don’t have to plant ‘the dreaded Leylandii’ and you can choose plants that will make your hedge a real feature of your garden. Rather than having to be replaced at great expense and hassle every few years, a hedge should outlive its owner.
Environmental benefits
Planting a hedge will provide a haven for wildlife, but don’t forget that a it will absorb CO2 from the air, will improve localised air quality by absorbing and filtering out pollutants, and will also help rainwater to penetrate the ground (and to absorb it) to help reduce localised flooding from surface water.
Instant hedging from Wykeham Mature Plants
You don’t have to wait years for a hedge to grow to provide the results you need and are available at affordable prices; in fact, the cost of an instant hedge works out significantly less than that of fencing as it won’t have to be replaced. At Wykeham Mature Plants you really can buy time, such as instant hedging for screening and security which would otherwise take years to achieve. Where privacy has become a real problem, such as from a neighbour’s upstairs windows, or where there is an unsightly view but a hedge or fence of a more usual height just isn’t enough, there is a range of screening available to provide cover at higher levels without taking over your garden or breaking the rules about tall hedges.
Visitors to Wykeham Mature Plants can explore a nursery which combines innovation with traditional horticultural skills to create an effect of maturity from hardy trees, shrubs, hedging and conifers in sizes larger than are normally available in garden centres. The experienced staff will help you to select the ideal hedging or screening option to thrive in the conditions on your site for guaranteed results.
You can also call us to discuss your requirements as well as order online.
Above: a tatty damaged fence replaced with instant hedging (photo taken on day of planting).