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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20488  
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Excavating by hand or mechanical?
How many Conifers? |
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16th Nov 2015 5:40pm |
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| Oldyellar Member Since: 04 Sep 2015 Location: Central Posts: 400  
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Hi Steve I don't know what you mean? The border of the land is about 100m long I need to plant 100m with of conifers along it I can get them 6ft tall ready to plant I can get my hand on a 14tonne digger
Thanks john |
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16th Nov 2015 5:43pm |
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| Romadog Member Since: 07 Jul 2011 Location: Powys Posts: 1749 |
14 tonne
5 minute job, more time and cost in moving it ! 
Google is your friend http://www.leylandii.com/planting.html http://www.leylandii.com/faq.html Hope these help |
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16th Nov 2015 5:49pm |
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| ian series 1 Member Since: 17 Nov 2014 Location: south Posts: 3127 
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Generally a meter apart for a decent hedge.
As you say you can either dig a trench, or go for holes, if they are bare rooted make sure the holes are bigger than the root ball to allow for root growth, so they are not fighting to grow into the tougher sides of the hole. We use spent mushroom compost around the roots, well mixed with soil to give the root system a good start. Or some organic matter of some discription, not too much otherwise it can burn the roots, and kill the tree. With larger trees, you can also feed a pipe from surface, to rootball so you can water directly at the roots. Back fill the holes, "heeling in" as you go, not too hard though as you will compact soil around the fibrous roots. Keep well watered for a few months, even if it rains. You can add a top dressing of mulch to retain moisture, either wood chips, or organic matter, leaf mould etc. 
Stake as required. Meanwhile, over on the Defender forum more shenanigans are in store............  80" 80" 86" 88" 90"
Wanted, Forward Control Anything considered. Last edited by ian series 1 on 16th Nov 2015 5:55pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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16th Nov 2015 5:53pm |
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| Oldyellar Member Since: 04 Sep 2015 Location: Central Posts: 400
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Thanks Romadog I have the 14tonnner there for another job anyways
The ground is mostly rocky hardcore type crap as it's been "built up" |
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16th Nov 2015 5:55pm |
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| Oldyellar Member Since: 04 Sep 2015 Location: Central Posts: 400
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Thanks for the advice Ian |
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16th Nov 2015 5:57pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20488
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Just wondering how many you've got to plant. (Conifers)
Then you can work out equal spacing that's all. No doubt the links above will help. They are excellent for your purpose with lots of room, not so in gardens though. We should know put a couple in and it was like living in a cave after a few years it was so dark.
They grow fast and to a great heigh and are very tolerant to high winds. If they are only 6ft I doubt you'll need a big digger at all, probably too big! As a rule they should be individually planted in my opinion as a trench would encourage 90degree root growth rates than 180 degrees in all directions. Rope or string then some road marking spray would help first. If you do use the digger a smaller bucket would probably do or they'll end up about 5ft deep.
If you can measure the land accurately you can then divide the amount of trees equally to find out distances between you want. I'd say you'd want at least 20ft apart to take into account canopy width. Possibly a little closer if you want them to grow into one another but they will compete and die off in the middle if they are too close. **Edit, after reading above my spacing takes into consideration full size growth assuming that's what you want. Closer as mentioned if you want them as more as a hedge but they are quick growing and if not cut on a regular basis to keep them the size they are they'll soon become a problem. They don't take kindly to being cut back hard either if they get too big. Last edited by custom90 on 16th Nov 2015 6:06pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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16th Nov 2015 6:02pm |
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| RobKeay Member Since: 19 Jul 2009 Location: Stafford Posts: 1585 
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One every three feet should do it. Plenty of water for conifers. We fit a drip line to aid the watering.
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16th Nov 2015 6:04pm |
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| Oldyellar Member Since: 04 Sep 2015 Location: Central Posts: 400
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A hedge is what I hope to achieve for privacy and as Custom90Steve says the wind it's windy at the land
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16th Nov 2015 6:20pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20488
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If that's the case then the chaps above are correct.
They are a good windbreak.  |
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16th Nov 2015 6:26pm |
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| Spruce Pirate Member Since: 08 Feb 2013 Location: Stirlingshire Posts: 124 
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We normally plant conifer hedges at about 1m/3' spacing (depending on the client). For a really thick hedge plant a double row, staggered (1m spacing in the row, 0.5-1m spacing between the rows. That way you get a plant every 50cm or so. Hedges will make an excellent wind-break, but if you plant 6' trees in a windy area they will be much more prone to blowing over. Small trees are a) much cheaper, b) much easier to plant - spade rather than digger, c) don't need staked and tree ties to save them blowing over. I wouldn't recommend planting anything over 2' tall. Conifers do grow quickly, in a couple of years you should have your 6' hedge.
What sort of soil type do you have - this could have a bearing on what species you use? Do the ground prep first - either chemical spray or use the digger to scrape the vegetation off to get the plants a good weed free start, you'll reap the benefit of this in the future. Make sure you've got adequate protection from browsers - you don't want hares/rabbits/sheep/deer coming along and killing all the work you've just done. We normally plant by eye, but you could use a string line as suggested. I assume by your profile flag you're in central Scotland - I wouldn't worry too much about watering! Only needs done if it is EXTREMELY dry for a prolonged period round here. Lastly if it is a hedge you want don't forget to trim it, sides and top, on a regular basis, it will keep it full and healthy and keep it at the right height. Few things worse than 100m of trees, planted as a hedge and left to overgrow so that they're 60' high and 15' wide. If the wind is a problem start trimming early, it will allow the stem to bulk up while the height of the plant is still quite low giving rigidity and allow the roots to develop a large system in relation to the height of the plant. Dirty Deeds - Done Dirt Cheap |
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16th Nov 2015 9:34pm |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110  
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Just for my culture
I'm Not an expert in trees in UK... But wich kind of "conifer" are you talking about it?. There is almost 580 conifers species and most of them with different habits. From just small shrubs to huge tress. Some have high water requirements and other can live with almost nothing of water. Cheers! Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo"  Click image to enlarge |
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16th Nov 2015 9:48pm |
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| Spruce Pirate Member Since: 08 Feb 2013 Location: Stirlingshire Posts: 124
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Eduardo, "Conifers" in the UK hedging context most frequently refer to Leyland Cypress, often referred to as Leylandii. Cupressus x leylandii is the Latin name. Dirty Deeds - Done Dirt Cheap
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16th Nov 2015 10:06pm |
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| JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7907 
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Ok I'll admit I don't know what you're trying to screen but please consider a native hedge! Only my opinion but conifers are just hideous unless very well maintained and kept under control!!
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16th Nov 2015 10:27pm |
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