Hedges can mark a boundary, divide the garden into smaller, spaces or form a low, neat outline to formal beds. They can protect plants from adverse weather, deter burglars, help to lower noise levels and attract wildlife. Hedges rarely collapse in a storm. in the way that fences, or even walls, can do.
Clipped, compact evergreen hedges look much the same throughout the year and are ideal for creating a formal outline in or around the garden. They provide a good backdrop for flowers and plants. These hedges need regular clipping to maintain their shape.
The traditionally grown plants for evergreen hedges arc privet, yew, laurel, arid box. Conifers are also commonly used. Avoid fast- growing Leyland cypress and. go for slower-growing alternatives such as Chamaecyparis lawsoniana `Ellwoodie, which will produce a more satisfactory hedge.
There is a wide range of flowering and fruiting shrubs that can be trained to form decorative but looser-growing hedges. For spring color goes for forsythia with its sunny yellow flowers that appear before the leaves. For a low hedge Berberis thwzbelgii Atropurpured has purple-bronze foliage turning a rich red in autumn. Hornbeam, Carpirsos hvtrerys, has yellow or green catkins in spring and turns a yellow-orange in autumn before the leaves fall Beech, Fag-us syvatica, can provide a formal or informal outline depending on how you trim it. Although it is deciduous, the autumn leaves often remain on the hedge all winter; the copper beech, F s. puipurea, has purple leaves that turn a deep, rich copper color in autumn.
Plant a mixed hedge for a traditional country look and to attract a wide range of birds who will enjoy the food, protection and deterrents to unwanted visitors if you plant them along road-sides or bordering a front garden. The common holly, flex aquifilium, is excellent for this. For a variegated form choose 'Ferox Argenrea' with cream-edged leaves or 'Golden Queen' with golden margins. Berberis x stenophylla, also dense and thorny, is a colorful alternative, with its gold flowers in spring and purple-red leaves.
A rose hedge can be both decorative and extremely prickly. Choose Rosa rugosa varieties for their closely prickled stems. Many also have flowers with a beautiful scent and large red flower cup in autumn. The flowers come in white, yellow, and tones of pink through to deep crimson. Berberis thunbelgii is also thorny but grows to only about 1 m13 ft high. its fresh green leaves below, turn orange in autumn and it has red-tinged, pale yellow flowers and red fruit. Hawthorn, Cramegus mono trod, is also suitable and has white or pink-tinged flowers in spring followed by reel fruit
A hedge is a combination of fence and hedge and is a good way of creating the effect of a hedge in narrow space. Plant ivies about 2.5-3 m/8-10 ft apart against a fence until they intermingle to form a dense cover over the framework, then clip to control growth. The traditional hedge is made by pushing in and weaving willow stems, which soon root and grow to form a narrow, green barrier.
