HEDGING
PLANT LISTS
FORMAL
HEDGING
Formal
hedging (the hedges that look well tended and are used in and
around gardens) can be deciduous or evergreen. Some deciduous
hedging holds its leaves (albeit dead) through the winter. This
kind of hedging has the same attractions in terms of privacy
that evergreen hedging does. However if wind protection is a
consideration, then hedging plants that drop their leaves tend
to make better windbreaks than evergreen/brown hedges as they
reduce wind flow rather than block it entirely (which causes
turbulence around the hedge). However hedging clothed in leaves
(whether they are green or brown) looks less bleak.
Click on the highlighted plant names in the lists below to go
to the relevant shopping page on this site where you will find
more information about each hedge plant including pictures and
any specific planting instructions together with the sizes we
stock and their prices.
Beech,
Green.
Outstanding
formal hedging that has beautiful foliage in spring which turns
a warm golden brown by late autumn and then is held on the hedge
through the winter.
Beech,
Copper (or Purple).
Identical
hedging in all respects to green beech except for the leaf colour,
which is almost pink in spring, darkening through burnished
copper to purple. Looks good when mixed in the same hedge as
green beech.
Box,
Common.
Common
Box is slow growing so best for smaller evergreen hedges and
formal hedging in herb gardens and rose borders. Shade tolerant.
Cypress,
False or Lawsons.
The
thinking person's Leylandii. This is a fast growing evergreen
hedging conifer, much darker in colour and more forgiving of
mistakes when being trimmed as a hedge. Clip in early spring
and early autumn.
Holly.
Evergreen
hedging with familiar prickly leaves that grows almost anywhere,
looks good at Christmas and adds a measure of security. Works
well mixed in a hedge with Cherry Laurel
Holm
Oak.
Sometimes
called Holly Oak. This is a cross between an oak and a holly.
Not very prickly, wonderful in windy spots and by the sea and
makes a fantastic evergreen hedge.
Hornbeam.
Deciduous
and a very similar hedging plant to beech but hornbeam is better
on heavy soils that drain badly.
Laurel,
Common or Cherry.
An
evergreen hedge plant, larger leaved and a lighter green than
its cousin below. The best hedging to reduce traffic noise and
light.
Laurel,
Portugal.
Smaller
leaved and a darker green than Cherry laurel this is a fantastic
flowering evergreen hedge plant where dense lightproof and sound
proof hedging is needed
Privet,
Gold.
As
for green privet, evergreen but a variegated hedge plant, with
gold/cream margins on the leaves.
Privet,
Green.
Evergreen
hedging that loves places other plants regard as hell. Ideal
for roadside, polluted, dry, dusty and shady spots. Clips really
easily.
Western
Red Cedar.
Slower
growing than False Cypress, but Thuja makes a wonderful, evergreen
aromatic hedge. Clip in early spring and again in autumn.
These
are all good hedging plants, just remember that (with the exception
of yew - see below) conifer hedges need bi-annual clipping.
If they are not trimmed regularly they are hard to get back
under control.
Yew.
The
king of hedge plants. Yew hedging grows surprisingly quickly
until the leader has been cut off. Once established yew usually
only needs clipping once a year. Very hard pruning in mid winter
easily restores old and badly maintained yew hedges. A well
clipped yew hedge is a thing of great beauty and adds style,
form, structure and value to a garden in a way that no other
hedging plant can.
If
you want to buy any of the hedge plants above in packs of 50
please follow this link to our Hedge
Packs
Maintenance
of most hedges is generally limited to keeping the ground free
of weeds and one or two clippings a year. If they need formative
work, beech, hornbeam, privet and yew hedging can be cut back
hard in winter.
Back
to Lists of Hedging Plants
INFORMAL
HEDGING
Mixed
hedging, sometimes called native or country hedging provides a
more varied habitat and a wider range of food sources and nesting
opportunities. These hedges help bring a wider range of wildlife
into the garden. Use one of our suggested
hedging mixes, or be adventurous and make up your
own hedge. The list that follows is made up of the plants that
typically are used together to make the traditional country hedge.
Suitable candidates would include:
Blackthorn, Sloe A good hedging plant in
its own right where being impenetrable is important
Crab
Apple
Hawthorn,
Quickthorn
Hazel
Shrub
Honeysuckle. Not a climber but a bush that looks
very like a small leaved cotoneaster or privet. Much underrated
as a hedging plant. Clips well and is much loved by birds and
dormice.
Maple,
Field
Pear,
Wild
Privet,
Wild
Rose,
Dog
Spindle,
Spindleberry
Wayfarer,
Wayfaring Tree
These do best when cut back every other year as biennial trimming
gives the plants a chance to flower and fruit. They therefore
tend to make larger, shaggier hedges, but ones that teem with
life.
Back to Lists of Hedging Plants
BARRIER HEDGING AND SCREENING TREES
Most hedge plants and trees will, in time, provide excellent
screening and protection - you can neither see nor get through
a well grown beech hedge. The lists here do not therefore cover
every plant, just some of the ones that specialise in "defence"
and screening.
BARRIER HEDGING
Barrier hedging is generally designed to keep someone or thing
in or out and so the hedge plants here tend to be thorny. That
does not take away from their beauty - just think of a rose. Some,
such as most of the Berberis are truly vicious and we advise wearing
leather gloves when planting and trimming any of the hedge plants
that follow:
Darwins
Berberis.
An evergreen Berberis with extremely prickly, dark shiny green,
holly-like leaves. The new leaves are almost red and turn green
as they age. Orange flowers in Spring.
Julian's
Berberis, Wintergreen.
Another evergreen hedging Berberis with dark green, spined leaves.
Yellow flowers in spring. To 2 metres.
Green
Berberis.
Lovely flowers, little berries, beautiful foliage and flexible,
needle sharp spines that can find their way through the stitching
in leather gloves. Vandal proof hedging.
Purple
Berberis.
Similar in every respect to Green Berberis except the leaves are
purple. The two plants look well together.
Blackthorn,
Sloe.
The allotment owners favourite hedging plant. Blackthorn is a
suckering, dense growing, spiny, good for birds and carrying sloes
in the autumn.
Holly.
Needs little introduction. Produces an impenetrable hedge where
some of the plants will be female and carry berries through the
winter.
Hawthorn.
The traditional country barrier hedge.
Ramanas
Rose, White.
These are thorny roses, that sucker well and can be cut with a
trimmer. Excellent for hedges to 1.5 metres
Ramanas
Rose, Red.
Identical to the White Ramanas Rose, this caries wine red flowers
intermittently through the summer and autumn. Huge orange/red
rosehips.
Scotch
Rose.
The spiniest rose of them all, the Scotch Rose suckers well and
is ideal for hedges to 1.2 metres.
Maintenance of these hedges involves weeding in the early years
and one clipping a year. Formative pruning should be done in mid-winter.
All these plants, including the roses can be cut with a hedge
trimmer
SCREENING
Trees
and some hedge plants can be the only solution to an eyesore.
Some such as the Hybrid Poplars and Willows are not the most
beautiful, but grow very quickly indeed (2-3 metres a year).
They can give you "a quick fix" and buy time for other, slower
hedge plants or trees to grow enough to take over. Others such
as the Laurels are evergreen and dense and can blot out car
headlights and noise. In town the Privets grow quickly, clip
well and are evergreen.
Hybrid
Willow.
Not the most delicate of willows, but it grows at up to 3 metres
a year and coppices well. To 10 metres
Hybrid
Poplar.
As fast growing as the hybrid willow, but growing taller and
wider. To 15 metres.
Laurel,
Common or Cherry.
Good as fomal hedging, Cherry Laurel is also an excellent screening
plant. Its thick leaves absorb light and noise making it ideal
for roadside planting. To 6 metres
Lawsons
Cypress, False Cypress.
An excellent, fast growing hedging and screening conifer. Clips
well and makes a handsome tree for taller screens. To 30 metres
Back to Lists of Hedging Plants
HEDGING PLANTS FOR COASTAL AND SEASIDE LOCATIONS
Some hedge plants are much happier, and grow into better hedging
in strong winds and salt airs than others.This may be because
they naturally occur by the sea or on hilltops, perhaps preferring
poorer, sandy or chalky soils or because seaside microclimates
tend to be warmer than inland ones or even because fierce winds
restrict competition. So this hedge plant list is dedicated
to lovers of salt, sun sand and wind.
Cotoneasters
Elaeagnus
With Silver leaves the deciduous Elaeagnus
angustifolia does well in poor coastal soils. Evergreen
Elaegnus ebbingei is a bit more formal but is unmoved by salt
or wind.
Escallonia
Probably needs no introduction. Escallonia is an ideal seaside
hedging plant and we grow Escallonia
Apple Blossom (pink and white), Escallonia
iveyii (white) and Escallonia
rubra macrantha (red).
Griselinia
littoralis
Also know as New Zealand Privet. We also grow Griselinia in
a variegated
form.
Holm
Oak
A naturally occuring cross between a holly and an oak with the
best characteristics of both. Not prickly, evergreen and great
for windy spots and by the sea.
Roses
Sea
Buckthorn
One of the plants that likes the seaside for its salt and poor
soil. Lovely silvery foliage, but serious thorns make it an
excellent deterrent
Tamarisk
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