Best privacy hedge

[cwhaley]

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.

 

[Notch7]

photinia red robin?

 

[cwhaley]

photinia red robin?

I do like those. I have one on the front and like the Forest Flame its colours throughout the year are lovely. Do they grow as high as 7 ft?

 

[HERTS P&D]

'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.'

 

[cwhaley]

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.

 

[HERTS P&D]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/313.shtml

 

[Notch7]

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.

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

 

[cwhaley]

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.

 

[JP_]

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!

 

[cwhaley]

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.

 

[JP_]

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.

 

[cwhaley]

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....

 

[EdTurtle]

Yew or Privet? Cotoneaster is nice, but is it tall enough for you?

 

[cwhaley]

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.