SAY GOOD BYE...........

The only thing I can think of is "oh lovely, how many more plants can you squeeze into all that new space"..cant wait to see!

I remember walking by that hedge and asking who fills the bird feeders as they were high up in the trees! ... Firstly, is that boundary your responsibility? ... If it is shared with the folk behind your garden, perhaps the cost of fencing could be shared ? ... Will you lose any privacy without the hedge there? ... A trellis topped fence would add a little height and just think of the plants you could fill the space with! . . . . .

Big decision Dotty....I'm sure you will enjoy the space once the work is completed. I like the idea of a trellis topped fence...wish we'd put trellis up on our fence before the neighbouring houses were built! I expect it will feel a little naked to begin with, but you will make something lovely. Don't blame you for not wanting the work of clipping and collecting three times a year! The little birds will miss it I suppose as they love hedges for nesting, but there's always a down side to any big change isn't there. I had to chuck a whole load of plants out of my big shady border this week....sometimes you just have to do what you have to do!

I'd keep the hedge, Dd !
But then i'm not a fan of fencing and would choose a hedge every time, the direction I'M coming from is wildlife - so many trees, shrubs and hedges get removed each year, for various reasons, and the knock on effects are too great. So .... that's why i'd keep the hedge every time - just trying to do my, very small, bit :-)

Sounds like a good idea Dotty - you've lived with it long enough - and you and your plants will love all that extra light. I was also going to suggest a trellis-topped fence, but it also looks good to put trellis on the fence itself - then all the climbers have something to cling to!

Good luck with the project.

Although it will let loads of light in Dotty and give you loads more space I am too thinking of the wildlife that will miss it! But you have to go with your heart in the end, we have taken away loads of old shrubs etc. pruned trees, cleared everywhere and I like the space it has created our skip went this morning, hooray. No more rubbish in the corners etc. it gives a feeling of satisfaction and then you can go to the GC and buy more plants!! Good luck.

Hi Dotty more room for lots more plants that sounds wonderful, look forward to seeing your progress:)

Three cheers for you - if you're going to have a hedge for wildlife, a clipped privet is the worst possible choice. It's actually better to have a fence with plenty of climbers including things with berries - even ivy is fantastic for wildlife, and is great looking too if you keep up with cutting it twice a year so it looks like a green wall. But any evergreen climber is useful, along with shrubs. And all that room to plant without the privet stealing all the nutrients, fantastic.

Sorry Dd, I know at the end of the day its your garden and you have to cope with it but I`d keep the hedge as well, we have already lost so much through replacing the living hedges and boundaries ...

I'd like to reiterate my point - the hedgerows and hedges we're losing are not clipped, manicured privet, and even if we did, they're not a lot of use, frankly, from a wildlife point of view - the best hedge is a mixed one and hacked back preferably once, twice a year if it has to be, when it starts encroaching too far. In gardens where space is limited, a much more useful approach to helping wildlife is the planting of various climbers against any walls or fences. Along with the odd tree and large/small evergreen shrubs. I back you to the hilt, DD...

wow climers galore .................. wot can i say !! so much more u can do !! carnt wait to see ............... just redoing some borders too .........;0)))

Sounds like a big job. If you do end up taking it out yourselves, just make sure you have plenty of Deep Heat in stock, just in case!!

I think you are very brave to even contemplate this - good luck.

We had this problem 4/5 years ago Angela we had very tall cypress trees at least 8 ft wide the ground was dry and as hard as rock they were at least 20 ft tall my OH had to clamber up like yours 2/3 times a year it was a huge worry I think there were about 16 of them we decide that as we are not getting any younger something had to be done , we took them all out ,the fence behind was in bits so had to be replaced with a high fence with trellis on top , we have put Malus trees in front also a selection of other large shrubs Phototinia / Viburnum etc . also we have covered the fence in climbing roses ,honey suckle ,Ceanothus to name but a few , I'm quite sure the wild life and birds are much happier now than when there were a few tall evergreens they love it ,it's where I put the birds feeders and hang things on the branches , it's alive again! .. we left a few tall tree trunks in the ground taking off the side branches to grow Clematis up they make full use of them and grow right to the top . good luck with whatever you decide .. it's you and your OH that has to do the work if you keep them !

Just reading through the various comments, Dotty, and I'm reminded that our fences have Pyracantha, Ivy, Jasmine, Clematis ... the birds love the red and orange berries and the Moths and Butterflies love the Ivy .... food for thought? ... :o)

Oh my, thank you so much for all you comments....
Tet yes the thought of all those new plants is driving me mad with desire!!
Shirley unfortunately none of the neighbours would be interested in sharing the expense, we seem to have inherited all of the fences surrounding our property.
Karen thank you for the lovely plants, so well wrapped, OH says a big thanks from him also......re the hedge we have never had a nest in the privet, the only thing it attracts is the Holly Blue butterflies, we had planned to put trellis on the top, for clematis etc.....
Louise I am not a fan of fencing either, but we do more than cater for wildlife in this garden, we grow over 12 trees here already, and we had two nests built in the nesting boxes (on the dividing fence)in between Ceanothus, Pyracantha, Pittosporum, honeysuckle etc.
Sheila that was our first thought, to put up panels with trellis in front, all depends on cost etc, at the moment the quote is for close-board with 2 ft
of trellis.
Grandmage, it will be covered in no time, believe me, I am pleased to hear you have finished yours, you were so lucky with the weather were you not?
Nana there will be plenty of pics to bore you with lol
Bamboo many thanks for your comments re the wildlife, we have a beautiful wall of ivy which I trim once a year, and as you say clipped privet is not for nesting.
Lincs it will be replaced with more suitable nesting places.
Cristina I do wish they would send the quote, we could be taking the privet out with all this glorious weather, I am itching to get started.
Frybo thanks for that advice, I think we must be mad to even contemplate it really, but it has to be done now rather than later.
Amy there were conifers here which we had removed, we could not do it ourselves they were too tall!! that was when we put in the hedge, to give us some privacy, it has done well over the years, but it has to be cut at least three times a year to keep it looking good, which is such a pain, your fencing idea and the plants you have used sounds lovely, any pictures?
Thanks once again for your input, I will keep you all in the picture......

I pass a house with a small privet hedge on the way to work, ive seen it cut down to nearly ground level twice, Oh my Dd those twisted mangled branches are Thick, I wouldn't want to dig them out! Yours does'e look nice but as you have a lot of maintenance with them i dont blame you, is this where you were planning to put a gate? I do hope you get a good quote and im looking forward to seeing your new larger Border..Exciting :)))

We spent most of yesterday cutting our hedges at the front of the house, well, I'm the cleaner up and husband the cutter. A couple of weekends ago we treated the fence panels on one side of the back garden. Now, I dont know what your OH is like but mine likes to take the panels out of the concrete posts, paint both sides and then replace them, so fencing still isnt maintenance free - so I cant grow anything up the fence - how do you other members paint your fences with lots of plants growing up them? Or dont you bother?
What's on the other side of the hedge Dotty? I like my privacy more than anything. Difficult decision. I love to see beech hedging but mine have been quite slow.

It sounds a nice idea but if its a boundry hedge just remember you don't always keep a decent neighbour, one could move and you could get a neighbour from hell, like some have on here, just a thought, I would tend to replant a thinner hedge with low maintainace which does nt grow qickly and not to high but high enough, then you could have best of both worlds. Hope you choose which you desire as people just like to have a 2nd opinion but always do what they want any way.

I wish you well with whatever you decide Dd, I know you have lots thriving well in your garden, I didn`t mean for wildlife or nesting actually, I meant the difference between living boundaries and what is replacing them, at the end of the day its what suits you and your OH...

Sixpence the hedge is at the bottom of our garden, and it is there to hide the houses at the bottom of the garden, so the hedge has to be well over 6ft to do this.....there is no such thing as a thin hedge lol the garden opens again in June 2012 so it needs instant cover, hence a fence with trellis would be the most obvious answer....thanks Lincs.
Dawn we paint them for the first few years when we can get at them, and then that is that, there is no way we could ever paint our other fences which are well and truly covered in plants........the other side of the hedge is a young family with three small children, no trouble but ~like you, we like our privacy, our garden is our sanctuary!! thanks ladies for your input again....

Oh I must of missed that of you putting a fence and yes it would be instant.

Thanks Dotty, I'm going to show my husband pictures of your beautiful garden and also show him what you say about plants covering the fence and hopefully he will see it all makes sense and let me grow plants up them - I hate painting fences, I dont think the preserver these days works like the old creosote did and much nicer to look at a plant clothed fence rather than a painted one. Thank you.

Sorry YDD forgot to say I can't say I am looking forward to grubbing out 32 ft of hedge, just have this nasty feeling the quote is going to be more than we want to pay, and we shall need extra topsoil and of course more plants!!
Dawn please do not have a domestic over the fence lol I can see both sides of the argument, we have no alternative, but, to grow plants up for the privacy, whereas you have so much land you could get away with having bare fences?

I'm sorry to say, Dawnsaunt, that fences do last longer if they're regularly treated - and that's not possible if they're covered in plants...

Bamboo is right, although it is a right pain, painting does preserve the fence.

shame to hedge has to go Dotty because of wildlife, but on the other hand its a big job to keep it looking good and hard work, i like the idea of trellis topped fencing as karen suggests with climbing clems and roses and all that planting space to, cant wait to see it happening Dotty, im sure whatever you decide it will be as perfect as the rest of your garden :o))

Thanks Dotty. I often wonder what happens to plants growing up fence panels and through them when the fence finally has to be replaced.

Good luck with the quote, yikes, this gardening game doesnt come cheap.

Hello Bamboo, difficult one, isnt it. A fence treated to last longer but looking boring vs a fence clothed in plants. I guess a walled garden would be ideal :-)

A walled garden every time Dawn, thanks San, privet is not very wildlife friendly, so whatever we put back will be better, just want to get on with it now, because all the jungle garden will have to be moved as well.

Good look moving the jungle Dotty, looks like you have lots of work ahead but I guess that's what Autumn is for ;-)

Have already started on the jungle, and have decided to take out the hedge ourselves, have ordered the fencing online, just hope it will be ok!!

When do you start digging the hedge out? I've been doing some digging out of old or dead shrubs this week. I dont get far without asking husband to help. Good luck with it all, making the decision what to do is the worst, I bet you just want to get on with it now.

Dawn we started today, we had 15 bags to take to the tip and that was just removing a 6ft length of the hedge, and not even digging out the roots, heaven help us!! the fencing panels arrived, very pleased with them, will paint them with a preservative even though they had been treated (dipped) which we ran out and had to order more from Homebase. Oh Happy Days lol

Glutons for punishment, arent we! Glad the panels are what you wanted, how exciting :-)
Good luck with the hedge removal, it will all be worth it in the end.

Thanks Dawn four out, one was a right b..... it was tucked behind a Silver Birch and the wall which runs along the back behind the hedge, OH had to attack the roots with an axe!! should get one panel up by tomorrow though all being well.

Darn roots, hate digging them out, well attempting to.