Looking for screening/shelter plants

[Kathy@watten]

Hi avid gardeners, help needed to find and buy the right screening for the whole way around a riding arena...need not to be spyed on and would like to soften the banking a bit. I have 110m to cover and would like some colour and interest, but don't want to wait forever and can't affort native hedging. Thought willow types and perhaps dogwoods? have heard you can't kill those? and you can take cutting to thicken in in time to come? OK am I in the right general idea?

[porshiepoo]

If you're quick, find a nearby willow tree and take off the small offshoot stems making sure they have a heel attached. Any size stem will do really. Then either bung the heel ends in water or plant them in pots of moist compost (you can put say 4 or so to a pot). Once you get some healthy roots appear pot em up individually and then next summer plant them out. By then they will be a decent size as they grow very quick. From then on just snip the central stem when it gets a decent size and it'll bush out.

Maybe you wanted some cuttings already ready to go but I've done it this way many times and you can get as many cuttings as you need free of charge.



You may want to consider a few evergreens chucked in to your wind break or else come winter you'll not have much of a windbreak left.
Dogwood, although not evergreen is a hardy plant but I struggle to get cuttings from mine - never had a single cutting succeed.

[singysmum]

Hi Kathy,

When we moved into our house there were no hedges at all around the paddock so I planted willow cuttings that I took from anywhere I could. These have grown quite successfully despite us being only about 500 yards from the sea, so it is fairly windswept all the year. The cuttings that took have grown well and the cows browsing over the hedge have made a good job of pruning them and causing them to thicken up very nicely. The only problem is that they are very sparse at the lower level and during the winter months. To counteract that I have planted hebe cuttings between them. These are very vigorous, have grown really well and some of them have flowers on all year round. I'm sorry I don't have the 'proper' name for it but you are welcome to come and see it if ever you are in the vicinity of Staxigoe and you could take a few cuttings with you if you wanted to. :)
Hope this helps
Helen

[cricket]

You don't need to go through any intricate process to get willow to grow. Cut young 'branches' the thickness of your finger, then cut them up in 40 cms. lengths and insert directly into the ground - make sure you get the right way up checking the 'eyes' - push them down to a depth of 10 cms if you can, don't worry if not, they are likely to take anyway. Dogwood is a little more temperamental, but it's possible to use the same technique.
After 2-3 years you layer the willows, they'll shoot up thick from the cut and the layered bits will provide fence and a filter shelter in the winter.
May I remind you to be careful planting evergreens where horses can reach, lots are toxic to equines.