ONE of the most important features of any area of green space is its boundary. The boundary shows where the area starts and finishes, acts as a form of security and privacy, leads the eye in a desired direction and can bring a sense of intimacy to a garden too. There are many types of boundary to choose from but the most natural looking of all are hedges. They are often described as wildlife corridors that provide habitat for birds, insects and animals as well as providing them with cover as they move between feeding sites; so important as habitat is lost to development.
Formal or informal?
For a neat, formal hedge you could use Conifer, Laurel (which has the added bonus of white flowers in spring), Privet, Beech or try Holly or Yew for their red berries. For security, try thorny plants
like Hawthorn or Berberis, which will have the added bonus of flowers and berries. Where circumstances allow, a
more informal, flowering hedge can be used. This can be made up of a single subject or for added interest why not go for a mixed hedge? Suitable plants include; vigorous rose species like Rosa rugosa ‘Scabrosa’ with its purple- pink flowers, followed by red hips; Escallonia Rubra (an evergreen shrub with deep pink flowers). Others include Weigela ‘Florida Variegata’ which has white margined, grey-green leaves and pink flowers in late spring and early summer, or how about Pyracantha with its white flowers and orange berries?
Maintenance
HEDGING your bets
hedges and offers tips on variety, planting, maintenance and legislation.
Paul Thornton, Head Gardener at Rugby School, looks at the benefits of planting
Of course, the down side to hedges is the maintenance and this needs to be done regularly. I know, from painful experience, that it is far easier to cut a hedge with short, thin growth than one that has been neglected and become a straggly mess, which is hard work and the finished article is nowhere near as good as one regularly trimmed.
A well-trimmed hedge is a real asset, as its neat, sharp edges form a complementary green background against which the informal shapes of plants and shrubs can stand out.
If you have ever visited Hidcote
Gardens in Gloucestershire, you will know that hedges are used to great effect with the garden being divided into a series of ‘rooms’ by the many hedges there. If you have a hedge that is starting to get a bit wild, the
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