Hedge as opposed to fence..but which one and how to plant?!

[samdontdiy]

Personally, I'd wait until October/November and plant up either bare root or pot grown plants...make sure the ground is well prepared and free draining.
...If you're using a single line 6" apart then you can take out a continuous trench for planting into which will make it easier.
Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for responding to my never ending questions! Upon your sound advice, I have decided to wait until Oct/Nov and meanwhile have sourced well rotted manure (thank you mr knowles!) to cultivate the soil.. the trench has been dug so I'll be taking care of the ground now in preparation of the privets - have opted to go for a single line now. How wide and deep should the trench be? (at the moment its about a foot wide, and ive taken quite a bit of soil out so that i can mix manure in there) how deep should i dig?

 

[b3taman]

Maybe dig out your trench about spade depth and then put about half the loosened soil plus manure mix back into the trench.
The planting depth will depend on the size of your pots. Whether you are using pots or bare root plants all you have to do is make sure that they are planted so that the soil is at the same level as the top of the compost in the pot if they are in pots or are at roughly the same depth as the original soil level if bare rooted. Privet won't be too fussy if they're slightly wrong, just make sure they're either (a) not planted in Australia or (b) perched on top of the soil with their roots half showing!