[flynnadrian]

Hi all,
I am looking from some advice from people in the know..
I want to plant some trees, shrubs, bushes (not fussy) at the front and to the south side of our house for privacy. See the attached image for area I wish to plant, I have inserted tree symbols where I would like plants. I have already planted a mixed variety hedge to the north side.
The house faces onto a public road (east) and the side (south|) into a neighbours house. The area is exposed and 6 miles from coast in Galway.
I don't want all everygreen and not bothered about completely blocking view just shielding it.
I love the plants growing already on the site, hazel and black thorn and would like to plant these but would they would take ages to grow?? I don't like neat either and like it to look as if it grew naturally or wild. Also if you could advise on size of plants as I would like it to grow quick. As I am still waiting to win Euro millions the budget is restricted to €400 - €700.
Sooooooo...any recommendations on plant variety, size to buy, where to buy etc, etc..

Thanks in advance to everyone.
Adrian.

[OffalyGoodLife]

Don't know how much help we can be, but we'll try to throw in a few of ideas to get some discussion rolling.

If you're after the wild look, concentrating on planting mostly native species would probably be best. Also, a variety of different species (both shrub and tree species) would increase interest visually as well as offering more in the way of a diverse habitat.

Have a look around your locality (hedgerows, woodlands, etc.) and see what is growing there. Hawthorn (whitethorn) is probably quite common, along with some of the other shrubs (blackthorn and hazel) that you already have, and depending upon where you are, possibly Willow or even Fushia. These grow fairly quickly into bushy shrubs (<10yrs), and are also widely available - they are the mainstay of what farmers use for hedging. Moving on to taller natives, Birch and Alder can grow quite tall quite quickly. Ash takes longer, but is faster than Oak in providing a bit of height.

As its a garden, what about throwing in a fruit tree or two? I see from other postings that Aldi are selling these quite cheaply at the moment, and ISSA (based in Scariff) have a huge selection of heritage varieties (particularly apples).

Hope this helps in some way, and Good luck!