Planting a native hedge on raised bank.. advice please?

gg66 · Hazel Tree Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 6

be advised, total noob to gardening here.

When building our house we created a raised bank between us and our neighbours. It's about 2-3 foot high of soil and about 2-3 wide also.

I'm going to plant a hedgerow with Alder, Willow, Red Dogwood, white thorn, etc.

My intention was to flatten the top of the bank and plant on top of it with a view to getting a taller screen in a shorter time.

Now I'm beginning to doubt my idea and fear the wind may hinder it. Would I be better of planting on the side of the bank on the slope or are there any other tips I should follow....

hedge will be about 100m in lenght.
how far apart should I plant?
plants are bareroot

thanks in advance

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 112

One situation where a bank is useful is where you have very heavy waterlogged soil. I have seen these sort of raised banks in the parts of Wexford that are afflicted with a heavy clay called macamore.
If you do not have this problem, I would worry that your young plants could dry out if we got a very dry summer. Are you on a very exposed/windy site?