Best privacy hedge

cwhaley

cwhaley

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Can anybody recommend a fast-growing hedge I can put up along one side of the garden? There is already a 6ft fence there but I'd like another foot of privacy above that. Neighbours are good people but like privacy and would enjoy a more attractive border.

Best contender so far is cherry laurel. I imagine I'd grow it to about 7ft, but only keep the foliage at the top 2ft with the trunks below being bare. I'm just a bit concerned about being a nuisance though if fast-growing branches continuously grow outwards over the fence.
 
'An evergreen shrub which, if not pruned, reaches a height of 4m / 13ft with a similar spread. Red Robin grows at a rate of about 30cm / 1ft per year when established. It responds very well to pruning and can easily be kept to a height 1.2m / 4ft.'
 
Thank you for the information there -- I've seen that on Google but read conflicting maximum heights elsewhere. I guess it would be easier to maintain at a height than say a Leyllandi but growing 1ft a year is a little slow for the purpose I need.

Wondered about a trellis but I don't know any evergreen climbers.
 
cwhaley said:
Thank you for the information there -- I've seen that on Google but read conflicting maximum heights elsewhere. I guess it would be easier to maintain at a height than say a Leyllandi but growing 1ft a year is a little slow for the purpose I need.

Wondered about a trellis but I don't know any evergreen climbers.
Click to expand...

honeysuckle?
Ive got an evergreen one, its pretty vigorous, albeit a bit spangly, will need some training go along a trellis

its has lovely glossy rich green leaves
 
I like that very much - not at all what I thought honeysuckle looked like. I Googled "evergreen honeysuckle" and the thick green leaves you mention would be ideal running a long a terrace, with the flowers being an added bonus in the summer. Will have to see how easy they are to run along a trellis.

Next door has a huge clematis hedge on the front but for most of the year it's a twiggy mess.
 
Don't plant Leyllandi, not unless you want to create that Fangorn Forest feel in your garden.
Laurels grow quick, but maybe too big? I used them once to create privacy from upstairs windows looking into a pa
might get something like this in autumn ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/20-Green-P...vergreen-Big-Pots/1888277465?iid=231010009863

I have a low chain link fence at the moment, but space to plant a hedge. I was going to put a fence in, but pretty sure I can do a hedge for much less and it will last longer. Hopefully!
 
I've got a run (maybe 15ft long?) of leyllandi further down the garden and I like it. I'm allergic to it but nonetheless it shapes nicely and has thickened up considerably after taking 4ft off the top. I've also taken 4 ft off the bottom of it which has opened up the garden. I think a lot of people let them grow and grow without regular cutting.

I'm still considering the idea of a laurel - it's either that or the honeysuckle at the moment. I want to keep the fence on show with the future border plant only growing above the fence.
 
Maybe I just had a bad experience - had one in the garden in my last house, it was huge. When it was chopped down it was like night turned to day - I only removed it because we were doing an extension!
I guess any hedge needs to be well managed. I did some hedge laying about 25 years ago, cannot really remember too well what was involved, but a traditional method to ensure a hedge stays thick and creates a barrier, rather than getting too thin at the bottom.

Holly? I had a nice hawthorn hedge once too, but pruning with a hedge trimmer resulted in hundreds of thorns sticking up in the grass - not idea! Hand prune only.
 
Yes they can become monstrous. When I moved in I had 4ft taken off, next door loved it! Unfortunately a lot of them become huge, boring-looking boxes taking up space and light.

Not sure on the holly. Don't think it'd grow quick enough and I might give him the wrong message if I let leaves like that grow over his fence. Probably a better message to send him than by growing pampas grass as was suggested to me today.... :oops:
 
Yew or Privet? Cotoneaster is nice, but is it tall enough for you?
 
I've decided to go for the New Zealand broadleaf (Griselinia Littoralis) as its roots are not too invasive, it grows fairly quickly and has evergreen thick foliage.

I am going to grow honeysuckle on trellising in other areas of the garden.
 
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