How to Choose the Right Hedges for your Garden

Hedges make both good and bad barriers. On the positive side, they form a marvellous background to plantings, the colours and textures being fully complementary. They also allow the wind to filter through rather than creating a solid barrier which can cause wind turbulence. Hedge plants are relatively cheap to buy and no real skills are required in planting them. On the negative side, hedges may take several years to reach maturity and, having done so, they need regular maintenance in the form of trimming and feeding. It is also difficult to grow climbers over a hedge as this will interfere with clipping.

There is a wide range of hedging materials from which to choose. Some, such as yew (Taxus) and holly {Ilex), are evergreen and will form a permanent screen. Others, for example, hazel (Corylus) and hawthorn (Crataegus), are deciduous and so lose their leaves in winter, although some deciduous trees, notably beech (Fagus) and hornbeam (Carpinus), retain their brown and withered leaves throughout the winter. These make a dry rustling sound when the wind blows them, which appeals to some people but is thought to be rather menacing by others.

The colour of hedges can vary considerably. There is a range of both coniferous and deciduous hedging plants that will give different shades of green, from dark to light and on through to yellow and even purple. Yellow and purple should be used with care; large blocks of light yellow can be too bright as a general background, while purple can be too solid and leaden. Yew and holly provide a sombre green that is very good in a formal setting but can be a little oppressive in a small garden.

Tapestry hedges are an interesting option, but these are best used as a feature of the garden rather than just a background, since they are visually very lively and can be a little distracting. Here, a mixture of hedging plants are used, planted in alternating colours. Common green and copper beech are a popular choice for such hedges, but there are other equally pleasing colour combinations.

Not all hedges need to be neatly trimmed and manicured. In gardens with plenty of space, informal hedges of rose (Rosa) or barberry (Berberis), for example, can be grown and left to take on their natural, wild-looking shapes.

Holly and thorny hedges like hawthorn and barberry deter unwanted visitors, but the thorns are a menace to the gardener if the hedges are planted near a border that needs weeding.