HEDGE HUGS
Forget uninspiring walls and fences – an all-natural boundary will help to protect you from pollution and encourage birds into your garden
AS A garden feature, hedging really does have it all. Here are just a few reasons why all gardens should make the most of beautiful, bountiful hedgerows.
BOUNDARY BENEFITS
WHEN compared with walls and fences, hedging wins hands down.
Not only does it make a cheap, attractive boundary, but it’s easy to plant and provides a structure that is perfect for wildlife and nesting birds.
In urban areas, hedging is handy for cutting down on noise pollution as well as actual pollution because the plant will naturally filter the air.
And, unlike other boundary structures, hedges do not need maintaining year after year. They’re long-lasting and about as natural as it gets. Yet they can offer the level of privacy and serenity that you and your garden need.
PRUNE FOR PURPOSE
FOR hedges that are already in place, pruning is a must. You should trim new evergreen hedges in spring as soon as the risk of frost has passed, otherwise you may damage any new shoots.
Deciduous growth is best pruned in winter, while dormant, and established hedges should be pruned annually to look their best.
Preserving a wellpruned hedge will help to keep the growth healthy, vigorous and dense. Plant feed will also boost the nutrient intake.
DENSE AS A FENCE
CERTAIN hedge plant varieties naturally grow dense foliage to give the best coverage.
Berberis dawinii, above, is both colourful and prickly, offering nesting protection for birds, while Rosa Rugosa Rubra, right, is quick growing and dense
Yew is a fantastic choice for a formal dense hedge, but it is slow-growing and expensive.
However, another evergreen is Portuguese laurel. The variety ‘Variegata’ has white-margined leaves to add some garden interest.
Though evergreens offer the most for privacy year-round, deciduous hedges can also look great and help to filter wind in the winter.
Go for something like a beech hedge which, over the winter months, holds on to its brown leaves and looks really striking.
Privet, beech and hornbeam hedging are also garden staples. These top sellers remain popular because they’re easy to care for and just do the job well.
Due to its height, pleached hornbeam is particularly useful for gaining privacy in large gardens, but you also have the convenience of being able to see below them, so you don’t lose any space. These are a brilliant addition to suburban gardens.
FLOWERING FAVOURITES
ROSA Rugosa is a fast-growing hedging plant that forms a dense barrier, making it perfect for informal gardens and seaside locations.
Variety ‘Rubra’ also has fragrant magenta blooms that will flower throughout summer and into autumn.
Or you might decide to go for something that offers more than delightful decoration.
Escallonia rubra ‘Crimson Spire’ has deep crimson flowers during the summer and autumn. It is also a great nectar source for pollinators like bees and butterflies. Berberis darwinii (Darwin’s barberry) not only gives floral satisfaction when used for garden hedging but has spiny-toothed leaves that will appeal to birds looking for protected nesting sites. It even produces fruit.
NATURE INTENDED
HEDGING has the opportunity to provide a great food source for garden wildlife.
Many of them bear berries across the year, much to the delight of garden birds.
One of the biggest benefits of something like Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ is that you get garden decoration, shelter for wildlife, beautiful orange berries for food sources and, because it has spiny branches, it also delivers great garden security too.
Planting an all-rounder like this gives your garden so much for so little.
Historically, hawthorn hedging has given us many of our field boundaries and made the perfect habitat for wildlife.
It’s dense and has a thicket of thorns, which makes pruning tricky, but gives great roosting opportunities for the birds in your garden.
TRIM ’N’ TRAINED
AT the other end of the spectrum, you might have a garden which prefers a more manicured look – and for this, clipped box works a dream.
Traditionally used for formal garden topiary, this plant is
Hedging can provide a great food source for garden wildlife
really useful for hedges that are situated in shady parts of a plot. Be aware, however, that you will need to prune this two or three times during growing season.
With the spread of box blight and box tree caterpillar, many people have focused on finding alternative evergreen plants for formal plantings. Leyland cypress, or leylandii, is the fastest-growing variety by far and will give you quick results.
But be warned – this coniferous plant will need regular trimming to keep it under control.
If left to its own devices, it can grow up to 30m tall.
Whatever plot you’ve got, though, there’s a hedge to give it the edge.
Start planning your hedging endeavours for the year ahead now and you’ll enjoy a private, plentiful and splendid garden hereafter.