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Welcome to our Head Gardener’s Journal

In this monthly column, we will share technical aspects of our work and also keep you up to date about ongoing projects. If there is any topic you might want to hear more about, please ask during your next visit!

A Three-Tiered Hedge

When restoring Morton Hall, we moved a disused pedestrian gate from the South Garden to the Park. We chose to plant an unusual three-tiered hedge in its place, which, together with two ‘blobs’ of Portuguese laurel, lent an interesting backdrop to one of our favourite statues.

The lowest tier is a semi-circular yew hedge. The middle tier consists of hornbeam, and the highest tier of beech, blending in with the main boundary beech hedge along the lane.

The three-tiered hedge is clipped in summer and tidied a second time in autumn.

Hedge prior to clipping
Clipping of the first tier yew hedge
Clipping of the third tier beech hedge
The finished article