Ha ha pottsy! Yes I am talking about the side hedge. I am thinking the hedge would take a long time to provide the screening I am hoping for.

If you cut back the existing hedge , plant ornamental pears , and wait for them both to grow , will it be any faster ?

I'd be tempted to ram some tall wooden posts down the middle of the hedgerow , add some slats on the top , maybe 50mm x 20mm , with 30mm between each slat , and let the hedge grow up around these .

Thanks - I was planning to buy trees at least a couple of metres high and plant them at say 1.5 m intervals or so, so yes I would be quicker, , main concern is how the hedge would recover from being hacked back and woukd it look ok.

Must admit I'm not really keen on the slats look and I think it would neef council and neighbour approval in my area due to height, which I would like to avoid

Hi JE C,
I think it would take a long time to recover if you cut into the hedge, as it’s pretty tight where you cut may look awful for awhile as it will be mainly bare wood, on the sides you cut, but if you are using mature trees it may be ok, there are laser cut metal screens that could look great. Even tall patterned screens behind the hedge would look very stylish .

You wouldn’t need to go too high to create that extra bit of privacy.

Also the size of the holes for the rootballs of trees that size and what that would do to the hedge plus how the trees recover from transplant shock, and ornamental pears are deciduous so the amount of privacy is reduced in winter. It would be useful to know what the hedge is so can your landscaper really not identify it for you?

Trees aren't great for growing in the exact same root space as a hedge. Too much competition for nutrients will make both weak and patchy. You'd have more success increasing the fence height with a trellis and growing a vine behind the hedge. Plenty of fast growing vines that look great.

Pop over to Pintrest and search “Pleached trees with hedge underneath”, I suspect this is the look your landscaper is looking for. Eg below. Plenty of examples of trees planted amongst hedges. Rather than ornamental pears, have a look at grafted/weeping/standard grevilleas. They fit with your native hedge and will have similar water and food requirements plus they give you some height straight away. And have foliage all year around.

are they Pittosporum which have several varieties

Hi all, I think it might be syzygium?

I can't really use anything like the lasercut screens due to council height restrictions etc.

I like the look of the pleached grevilleas...does anyone know how far out the roots go? Thanks.

The standard grevilleas have none invasive roots and are happy in pots so the root ball must be fairly contained.

That's great thankyou Big reader - I presume as a native they are reasonably fast growing, not too pricey...it's a southfacing boundary in Adelaide - do you think that would be ok?

You buy the standard grevilleas at 1.5 or 2 metres high. They then don’t get much taller just bushier. They aren’t cheap but you do get that instant height. They will grow south facing but have more flowers with sun. Google suppliers for an idea of pricing and supply.