The Holly and The Ivy- Part 9 of our garden makeover

Garden transformation Part 9 – Tackling the holly hedge

The 8ft high, 80ft long holly hedge, on the right hand side of the garden. Starts at the old sandstone wall by the bamboo bed, and carries on down to the walnut tree. It had got completely out of hand, in places it was at least 10ft wide and so spindly inside.

November 2013

Three months after moving to our new overgrown garden, we left the other jobs and finally set about tackling the mammoth hedge.

We had read that holly should not be cut until November, so we had waited – it wasn’t as if we’d got nothing else to do!

We started at the bottom by the walnut. It felt so awful cutting it back into the bare wood and it looked ghastly. A farmer friend had told me not to be scared, as holly will always come back. We knew we had to be brutal to get it back into shape, but it was obvious that it was going to take a few seasons, as it was in such a tangled mess.

It had spread right over into two tall conifer trees. We initially thought that we would keep the conifers by raising the canopy, but we’re not big conifer fans and still weren’t happy with how they looked.

We took one conifer out completely, and the other we stripped down to a totem pole. It now has winter flowering jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) growing up it, and also has the bird feeders hanging from it.

In place of the conifers, we planted three lovely red leaved trees, Prunus cerasifera ‘Pissardii Nigra’. They are deciduous, but they get pink blossom really early in the season, and they don’t lose their leaves until very late in the year. We are really pleased with how they’ve matured in the few years since they’ve been planted.

The hedge had also encroached onto a beautiful Irish yew (Taxus baccata fastigiata). When we chopped the holly back, the yew had no foliage on the one side, but now having light and space around it, has filled out and grown really well.

Clearing under the hedge

Underneath the hedge we found bricks, bits of old corrugated roof and yet more rocks (our garden is full of them). There were also masses of weeds, especially its friend ivy, but he worst problem was hawthorn growing through it.

We decided the only way to clear it out properly, was to raise the canopy slightly so that we could get right in. Most of it didn’t take long to grow back down to the ground, but there is still a few bits that haven’t quite got there yet.

That first year we worked into January and I wish I’d counted how many loads of prickly holly we’d taken to the recycling centre. I discovered that you need substantial gloves to tackle holly and I invested in a couple of pairs of leather gloves, which are still going after nearly eight years as I only use them for the holly.

As for your arms, you’d better hope its cold enough to keep your coat on, as a sweatshirt just doesn’t cut it! I didn’t dare let anyone see my arms after one mild winters trimming.

It actually took around four years to get it looking something like. You certainly need patience as a gardener! Some of the areas that were particularly tangled still have holes, but the birds treat these areas as doorways to shoot in and out of rate of knots.

Bird sanctuary

The birds absolutely love the hedge. Once inside it they run around like it’s a super highway. They make nests in it and raise their young. The babies sit in the gapy parts of the hedge whilst their parents feed them. When they have finished eating, they even clean their beaks on the branches.

The holly hedge is the only boundary in the garden we haven’t replaced with a wall. Its just too good for the wildlife.

As I am an amateur lady bricklayer, we’ve been able to replace all the other boundaries with walls. This maybe time consuming and expensive (although cheap labour!), but ultimately has zero maintenance, and excellent for growing plants on.

Last job of the year

Cutting the holly hedge is now one of those annual jobs, that forms part of the gardening year. It nearly always gets done in December rather than November. We have to wait for it to be cold enough, to cause the perennials growing under it to die back. This is a short window of opportunity, before all of the bulbs start to push through.

It is good though to be forced outside in the middle of winter to do some gardening. You know what it’s like, you’re not looking forward to it, but once you get out there you feel good!

As long as you are wrapped up well, you soon get warm jumping up and down on the ladder and platform.

Disposing of all the holly trimmings was a prickly job, but we have now perfected it. By saving the ton dumpy bags, that so many building materials have been delivered in over the last few years. We fill them with the holly, then pop them onto the back of the pick-up, and off to the recycling centre. A quick tip out and we’re done.

Yet another trip to the recycling centre

The good thing about cutting the hedge in December is plenty of holly for Christmas decorations, and there is always some ivy that I’m only too happy to pull up.
The best thing of all though about working outside in the winter, is that you can’t work too late as it goes dark early. So by four o’clock you’re back inside, lighting the log burner with a good gardening book, a mince pie and a warming sherry (well it is December after all!).

Holly myths

The first year that we tackled the hedge ‘Countryfile’ aired a programme, talking about ‘the holly and the ivy’ and the myths around them. The lady said “you should always ask permission before you start to cut holly”, so I did and it must have worked as we now have a hedge to be proud of.