Best hedge

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As the price of fencing has gone up drastically i now want to plant a hedge in front of an old fence (sturdy just doesent match the other fences).

I had settled on portugese laurel as its hardy/evergreen/fast growing, however i found out these are poisonous and i have a new baby who will eventually be playing near the hedge.

Is there any alternatives that are:

Hardy.
Evergreen.
Fast growing.
Survive in clay/moist soil.
Non poisonous.

And IDEALLY doesent flower massively, dont want to attract loads of bees etc.

Any ideas guys? Ill be planting them in the ground and laying bark on top of the roots.

Cheers
 
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How tall?

Are you fond of hedge clipping?
 
I have 40m (130ft) of laurel hedging. It's between 8 and 10ft.
Requires pruning twice a year.
Either a weekend by myself or £400 for a tree surgeon. Have done both.
Don't forget the weeding round it, and, scum like to use it as a dustbin.

Don't get me wrong, I love it, but, it has an overhead.

Don't be too concerned with the poison aspect.
 
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I have laurel, but the big leaves mean you can't use a hedgetrimmer, you need secateurs and a lopper.

Also have Box, but very slow growing.

Hamton Court maze uses yew.
 
I have 40m (130ft) of laurel hedging. It's between 8 and 10ft.
Requires pruning twice a year.
Either a weekend by myself or £400 for a tree surgeon. Have done both.
Don't forget the weeding round it, and, scum like to use it as a dustbin.

Don't get me wrong, I love it, but, it has an overhead.

Don't be too concerned with the poison aspect.
Id only have 10 metres and its in my garden so not going to be full of rubbish.

Just concerned with the poison aspect.
 
red robin -a photinia grows quite fast

if you like conifers then thuja plicata is an option -it will grow back from old wood to some extend unlike leylandii

beech although not evergreen does keep its leaves until the new ones form and if you use a mix of colours it looks lovely.

Yew is slow growing -10 years before you get a fully grown hedge and its poisonous.

prunus cistena -although it flowers

Elaeagnus

golden privet
 
red robin -a photinia grows quite fast

if you like conifers then thuja plicata is an option -it will grow back from old wood to some extend unlike leylandii

beech although not evergreen does keep its leaves until the new ones form and if you use a mix of colours it looks lovely.

Yew is slow growing -10 years before you get a fully grown hedge and its poisonous.

prunus cistena -although it flowers

Elaeagnus

golden privet
Thanks, plenty to look into.

Apparently laurel isent that bad when i looked into it.

Are laurel plants poisonous?
All parts of Cherry and Portugal Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus and Prunus lusitanica) are poisonous to livestock and the seed kernals will cause stomach upset if eaten by humans. However, the flowers and berries are usually trimmed off when pruning the hedge so are rarely seen. In general, there are very few problems associated with laurel hedging and humans – it is commonly planted and there are no reported cases of any serious problems. However, Cherry and Portugal Laurel hedging should not be planted where sheep and other livestock can eat the leaves.

Prunus laurocerasus and lusitanica are classed in Category C in the Horticultural Trade Association list of ‘Potentially Harmful Plants’ with A being the most harmful and C the least harmful. Other plants in category C include Ivy, Hellebores, Lobelia and Lupins. Yew, Daphne and Foxgloves are classed as more harmful than Cherry or Portugal Laurel.
 
I do like the forgiving nature of Thuja and the wonderful citrus smell that come off it. For Beech to retain its leaves until the new one appear the following Spring requires a second clipping in August.
 
I'm not a laurel fan; my neighbour never trims his, and missed one altogether which is now full tree size and really ugly. Laurel grows faster than is ideal for a small garden. Also some of the bushes on my boundary are dying back with some sort of fungus disease, maybe there's a potential problem here - as with box and conifer? Whatever you grow, remember that most tree-based hedges end up about a metre across, so plant at least half a metre from the boundary to avoid making your neighbour pay for pruning his side!
Regarding beech, it doesn't give all that much privacy in winter after pruning.
 

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