Overgrown hedge solution
Oegstgeest, Netherlands, 2024 - Harvest the Rain
Before
The initial question when I arrived was if I could remove this entire hedge and replace it for a regular wooden fence. Seeing how tall it was and how likely it was to be a refuge for many birds and other wildlife in the area, this was not something I was really looking to do. So I had to uncover the real reason behind why this hedge needed to go. The hedge was already overgrown when they bought the house and was currently so overgrown that it took up half of the sidewalk space. Sooner or later, the municipality would come by to request it being removed anyway. Trimming it was not an option since conifers can’t be trimmed back further than the ‘green leaves’. They won’t grow back green from old branches, and the ‘green’ part started already from further than where it conifer should be trimmed back to. They wanted to replace it with a fence because they still wanted their small front yard to be gated in for privacy, security and so their kids could not easily leave the yard.
Idea
So knowing the real ‘need’ was for the hedge no longer block sidewalk access while still keeping the yard fenced off, I thought of alternatives that would keep at least part of the conifer intact, and I came up with the idea of only cutting back the lower part to a height where most people could comfortably walk underneath it. This would save the higher part of the conifer, which contained the most birds nests. The stems of the trees could then be used as the base for a chestnut post fence. This fencing is flexible and could thus move along with the organic shape and placements of the trees.
Execution
The execution was rather straightforward. I pruned all the lower branches up to a height of around 2 meters (6 foot). All the cut down branches were stacked in between the trees and the shed, so they could still provide shelter for wildlife and could slowly decompose over time. The chestnut fences were attached to the leftover stems of the conifers. At the base of the new fence, I planted climbing hydrangeas (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) so over time they could fill up the entire fence. Planting at the base of a tree is always challenging since the established roots of the trees don’t allow for a lot of other roots. And specifically for conifer trees, their needles make the soil very acidic, which further limits options for plants. The climbing hydrangeas should be able to deal with these specific challenges, but they will probably not grow as fast as they would in normal circumstances. Compost was added in the planting holes to provide the new plants with some extra nutrients and better water retention capacity.
More questions?
If you want to know more about the process of desiging and building this yard, or if you’re keen to brainstorm ideas for your outdoor area, just drop me a message or give me a call!