webber Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 webber is not known for his prowess at gardening. Infact I,m prety ****, althpough I have had a few sucesses. We need to fence two of the woods on our shoot to discourage both people and dogs. I have had the idea of trying to propogate Holly bushes from cuttings, or however it is that you get Holly bushes. I am also open to other suggestions, the criteria being that the shrub should preovide a deterant, and provide berries / food for the pheasants and other wild birds, preferably reasonably fast to establish. Your thoughts and suggestions appreciated. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 This time of year you can get bare rooted hedging plants. They are very cheap and there are loads of places on the web selling them. What about some blackthorn too for the sloes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Gully Any idea how much they would cost. We would need a couple of thousand, which is why I fancied the DIY route, but I suppose that If they are cheap enough it may not be worth the bother. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 they really aren't much at all and a lot easier than trying to grow your own and will establish faster, the only problem is you quite often need tree guards etc to stop them being eaten. But it might be worth talking to the landowner there are a lot of grants arround for this kind of thing and it may fit in with one of the arable schemes he is part of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coney Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Gully Any idea how much they would cost. We would need a couple of thousand, which is why I fancied the DIY route, but I suppose that If they are cheap enough it may not be worth the bother. webber Usually around 25p each , but like most things the more you buy the cheaper they get. Coney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer69 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 a good plant for the pheasents is wild privit.. it provides cover and draws pheasents in from all around. it is a good place for the pheasents to be on driven days and the bush is not to thick so the pheasents can escape easily with put being eaten by foxes or picked out of the bushes by dogs, this happens if the bush it to thick. highly recomended although i do not know what the price of the items are! Killer69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Firstly like you I know next to nothing about gardening BUT I do know that growing pretty much anything from cuttings is gonna take on hell of a time. You're either gonna have to find something that grows damn quick or fence the area. If fencing to keep out people and dogs then stock fencing with a barbed wire top strand would seem the best option. The higher the better! You could try a little trick like putting up signs saying ADDER/SNAKE SANCTUARY DO NOT DISTURB but then again dogs don't read or electrify the fence!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 ADDER/SNAKE SANCTUARY DO NOT DISTURB :o For that sort of quantity (allow one plant every 2 feet) there must be commercial growers able to supply at a good price. Try asking around local nurseries. If you're searching the web try 'Ilex Aquifolium' and you may get more hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poacher Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Gully Any idea how much they would cost. We would need a couple of thousand, which is why I fancied the DIY route, but I suppose that If they are cheap enough it may not be worth the bother. webber To take a cutting to make it into a new plant, you'll need some Hormone rooting powder, basically you take a cutting, strip 3/4 of the leaves off in order to give the plant a chance, dip the cut end in the rooting powder, place in a small pot with good quality moist soil preferably in a bright warm place. keep watering and looking after it and you should have a new plant.. Some plants are more suited to this are they are more hardy and willing to take on, never tried it with holly but i imagine it should go alright.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 If the people are persistent the plants might not get a chance to establish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Firstly like you I know next to nothing about gardening BUT I do know that growing pretty much anything from cuttings is gonna take on hell of a time. You're either gonna have to find something that grows damn quick or fence the area. If fencing to keep out people and dogs then stock fencing with a barbed wire top strand would seem the best option. The higher the better! You could try a little trick like putting up signs saying ADDER/SNAKE SANCTUARY DO NOT DISTURB but then again dogs don't read or electrify the fence!!! fencing is a disaster with pheasants, a natural and very thorny barrier is better. I have a nightmare on one of the shoots I beat on where they tried fencing one side to stop people getting in. The birds run into it they hide the other side of it the dogs catch birds against it and you really can't even though in our case they try to flush birds through it Maybe the best thing is to look for wild hedging plants you can transplant. So where you have too many holly bushes etc go in dig some of the smaller ones up and move them. You may need to water for a while but thats only necessary over the summer. also you could try laying over a few of the trees that make up the boundary assuming they aren't too big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 If you're going to dig up holly, don't pull them out by hand, you need to dig up all the earth round them too. Holly roots are covered in very fine hairs which absorb the water. If you are rough with them you strip the hairs off and they die no matter how much you water them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 I'd just buy them. If you don't need evergreen then I'd go for the traditional blackthorn, hawthorn and wild rose route. Leave out hazel if you want it thick. All of these are pretty sharp, and also cheap to buy in bulk. For the time it takes to make the cuttings and look after them you're better off doing some overtime at work and buying them from a nursery! Holly is ok, but isn't that sharp to a dog. You don't see as many taking on blackthorn though. Do it soon, everything is budding very early this year so you need to get on with it EDIT...If you want to put people off a bit early on, use hazel or willow poles and whips to make a rough weaved barrier. It will be too delicate to climb over safely, and will rot away as the hedging whips mature leaving it open enough for the birds to get through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Thanks for the suggestions. Ill hit the internet for nursey men, and try my hand at some cuttings. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Crikey, Holly, £1.75 each, I guess these must be more difficult or slower growing. Backthorn at around 40 pence, but we need thousands. I'm coming over all hormonal!! webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 As blackthorn grows along from a root throwing up runners you shouldn`t need that many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 If you go to a wholesale Nursery you might get some good prices quoted for natural hedging. Blackthorn is very good, but be sure to buy at a good size, most are slow growers. Last year I planted a hedge area of blackthorn, copper beech and hawthorn. All shrubs were 4-5ft tall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 If you could wait a bit you could sow seed instead. Not a very quick method, but free. these things are never that cheap but believe me if you want to do this many cuttings it'll take a while If you want to give it a go, try this:- 1. Cut yourself some thorn/wild rose sticks about a foot long and 1cm thick and trim off any side growth, note which end is the top. 2. Bunch them together in tens. 3. Dig a good amount of grit sand (screeding/plastering sand) into a patch of ground so it drains well. 4. Put the bunches of sticks (make sure they are the same way up as they were growing) in the ground, leaving about 3" sticking out. 5. Water them in and keep them moist (not wet, they shouldn't need watering again until summer). Good luck. This is how we do it commercially and you should get a 75% take rate. Don't worry about rooting hormone. Now is an ok (maybe a bit late but ok) time to take hard wood cuttings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.