A beech hedge is a decorative privacy screen. But it takes time until the hedge is really thick. How many beech trees do you have to plant per meter of beech hedge so that the hedge quickly becomes dense and opaque?
How many beech hedge plants are required per meter?
For a dense beech hedge, you should plant two beeches per meter or four beeches per meter in a zigzag pattern. When planting in two rows, a planting distance of around 50 centimeters is recommended to guarantee optimal growth conditions.
Two plants per meter of beech hedge
- 2 copper beeches per meter of hedge
- if necessary 3 to 4 copper beeches per meter
- remove excess beeches later
- alternative: plant copper beeches in a zigzag pattern
The rule of thumb is to plant the beech trees in the hedge at a planting distance of 50 centimeters. This means that you need two copper beeches per meter of beech hedge. For 25 meters of hornbeam hedge you need to buy 50 copper beeches.
Getting the red beech hedge closed faster
It takes at least two years for a red beech hedge to become fully dense. Gardeners in a hurry can speed up this process.
You simply plant the hornbeams closer together. Instead of 50 centimeters, they only leave 20 or 30 centimeters of space. This makes the hedge very dense very quickly.
This measure not only had a higher price, but it also meant a lot of work after a few years. Then the excess beech trees have to be removed. If they stay in the beech hedge, they rob the other trees of the nutrients they need.
Planting wide red beech hedges in a zigzag pattern
If you want to plant a wide beech hedge, you can use an old gardener's trick.
Simply plant two rows of copper beeches along the entire length of the future hedge, offset to the side, i.e. in a zigzag. However, you should maintain a planting distance of around 50 centimeters, as cutting out excess beech trees is very difficult with this planting method. You will then need four copper beeches per meter of hedge.
By trimming the beech hedge to the desired width and height, after a few years it will no longer be noticeable that the beeches were planted in two rows, staggered. In this way you quickly get a very dense hedge that doesn't allow any visibility.
Tip
Do not plant a beech hedge too close to fences, walls, houses or sidewalks. The roots of the common beech are very strong and run quite shallowly beneath the surface. Over time, they can damage masonry and utility lines or lift paving slabs.
