Kitchen Garden Forum

I have a new plot which is pretty much a blank canvas at the moment. Once I get the boundaries properly secured (with a mish mash of fencing/corrugated iron etc) I was wondering if I would plant bushes along at least some of the edges. I had in mind some brambles and perhaps some roses - trespasser deterrents and wildlife habitat with some food value. I am not sure how far the roots would stretch though and if it would mean that there would be a metre or so near the boundary which would effectively be useless for veg growing. Any thoughts? Also, any other suggestions for bushes? And another question - has anyone tried stepover apples and if so is there a similar problem with roots?
Thanks for reading

I think you might be surprised how far some hedge roots can spread. Our vegetable patch lies immediately beneath our back garden fence which at one time was fully covered with pyracantha bushes.

When the fence rotted and had to be replaced we had to dig out some of the pyracantha bushes completely and I was shocked to find that many of the roots had spread halfway across the vegetable patch, with several of the roots being as thick as my arm. I hesitate to think how much goodness they were removing from the plot - or perhaps the roots grew even quicker on this side of the fence because the soil was well manured, so I think you're right to consider this issue now. so I'd avoid pyracantha, even though it's totally intruder-proof. Prhaps others will have some more suitable suggestions.

Haggis, I agree with Primrose.

When we took on our present allotment about 25 years ago we thought we might help to "wind proof" it a little by planting mixed hedges, mainly hawthorn, but also some field maple, blackthorn and holly, and found that, as the hedge grew (and we did keep it well trimmed), the roots just spread everywhere. In the end, about 10 years ago, we dug them all out and burnt them. I must admit we missed the wind shelter, the nesting birds and even the occasional wasp nest, but it certainly brought our allotment fertility and utility back to "normal".

Hedge cutting, particularly with manual shears (no electricity on the allotment and a battery would not have lasted very long), also takes up a lot of time!

The other thing to bear in mind is that if your vegetable plot runs right up to your hedge, you run a regular risk to having to tramble on it and compact it to prune the hedge back regularly so pruning can really only be done in winter when your plot is fairly empty, otherwise the prunings will smother/damage any vegetables you still have planted.

You obviously want to hide/disguise the fence if it's unsightly. One option might be some decorative ivy, perhaps a variegated variety but even the roots of this will spread. However, this seems to survive even in poor/restricted soils, so you could try digging out a deep trench at the base of your fence and lining it with corrugated sheets to try and contain the roots.

A while ago Johnboy suggested making a barrier in the soil with strong black polythene to stop root encroachment.Three years ago I did this when erecting my polytunnel to the south side of and within four feet of an eight foot hedge.
As I already had some thick grey polythene, like builders use under concrete house floors, I used this and it has worked perfectly. I buried it to a depth of about three feet.
Hope this is of some help.
Regards, Gerry.

Thanks for all of the replies. I may try lining a trench near the bottom boundary where it isn't near anyone else's plot. Maybe I'll just stick to sweet peas or something to hide some of the boundary fencing. All theoretical at the moment as most of it is covered in couch grass/docks /willow herb at the moment.