Hedge Facts

Why hedges are planted.Hedges are planted for a number of reasons:

  • To gain privacy and/or as part of a landscaping plan: As house sizes increase, overlooking of private open space is often an issue. To combat this, many property owners plant hedges to regain privacy. Hedges are also popular in landscaping plans as a formal, green backdrop. Unfortunately hedges are often planted with no regard to the amenity of neighbours who may be close to the boundary, or to road users and the general public. Often many property owners are unaware of the mature size of some hedges and their potential impact on themselves (in terms of maintenance costs) and others.

  • As spite trees: When development applications are approved despite the objections of neighbours, the affected neighbour will often plant hedges out of anger or spite to annoy the property owner who has had their development application approved. Spite hedges are also planted by some property owners who have received many objections to their development applications and may or may not have had their applications refused as a result of the objections. (Hedges and vegetative barriers are not subject to a DA). In these cases, mediation to have hedge heights limited is often refused by the person who has planted the hedge.

  • As windbreaks: Leighton Green hedges (see below) are particularly popular in rural parts of Australia as windbreaks. Unfortunately they do not create good windbreaks. They are too dense and can cause turbulence. A good windbreak needs to slow the wind and channel it effectively.



The Leighton Green cypress is popular as a hedging plant but has created enormous problems both in Australia and elsewhere in the world. See below:

  
  Cypress leylandii or Leighton Green Cypress:


This particular tree is extremely popular as a hedging plant because of its vigorous growing habit (approximately 1 – 1.5 m a year) and dense foliage. It has resulted in much grief both here and in the UK as it grows rapidly and blocks out light and views. The problem became so serious in the UK that a law was passed (the High Hedges Act – part of the Anti-social Behaviour Act) allowing victims of excessively high hedges to address their loss of amenity such as sunlight and views.

The problem with labelling.

In NSW, Nursery labeling laws do not require the possible MATURE height to be indicated. Many labels only indicate the height of trees in ten years, and many have no height indicated at all. Some labels give misleading information eg. "will grow 10 metres in 10 years." Leighton Green Cypress are known to still be growing at 40 years of age and may reach a mature height of 40m ie. the height of a 10 storey building! These trees have apparently been grown in Australia only for about 25 years. Their full potential mass is not appreciated yet.