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Hedging - Conifer type?

marc_mcintyremarc_mcintyre Posts: 8
in Plants


I would like to make a privacy hedge in my garden and when looking at other houses I've seen some lovely conifers which are really dense and neat looking. I would like the same so I am trying to find out which type it is but I'm not 100% sure. Could it be thuija red cedar? You often see it in peoples front gardens above a wall all neatly shaped.

Any ideas?

Posts

  • Ante1Ante1 Posts: 3,085
    Maybe Leyland cypress. He is the most common in hedges.
    Croatia
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Thuja plicata tends to behave better than many others for a hedge, and there is also Cupressus. The variety Goldcrest, in particular, is quite well behaved and is a brighter colour. These are more easily maintained, providing they are maintained, and kept trimmed correctly each year to keep them in shape and at an appropriate height. My neighbour has a thuja hedge which is kept at about two metres high, correctly trimmed, and is only about 12 or 18 inches in depth.

    Whatever you do, don't buy Leylandii, or your neighbours will be ready to throttle you in a few years! Unless you have a huge site, it isn't suitable for most domestic gardens, and will outgrow and smother everything else around it. It grows far too quickly for most sites, and gets out of hand. We see loads of threads on this forum about it - people desperately trying to cover it after it's been hacked back, and of course, once you cut into old wood, it's a gonner, and has to be taken out. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I agree, if a conifer hedge is the way you want to go, don't plant Leylandii ! We have a thuja hedge which is kept 2 metres high. If you want further info as to what type of hedge it is, could you take a photo & someone on here maybe able to help - or alternatively you could ask the neighbours whose hedge it is if they know the variety  :)
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Leylandii does get a bad name but if you trim it correctly from the start you can keep it in check, this hedge was 25 years old here, it was kept at 5’ tall all it’s life. But you do have to do it regularly top and sides, or as Fairygirl says it won’t recover.
    It is the fastest growing, these were just grown from cuttings.
    not there now, we dug it out!  It was full of bird nests, I felt very guilty😢

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    Try Pittosporum. Evergreen and you can have it twelve feet high if you want or a few feet if you don't. And it'll happily come after a hard trimming when you forget to do it one year. Unlike the dreaded Leylandii. I know the latter is good for birds nest-wise, but it is, IMHO, ugly as well as troublesome.
  • marc_mcintyremarc_mcintyre Posts: 8
    Thanks for the replies, I think it is Leyland cypress now after looking at those. I will do some research on these before making a decision :)
  • marc_mcintyremarc_mcintyre Posts: 8
    Definitely wont be putting in Leyland, I'm swaying more to the red cedar as says its more controllable. Ideally I want something that isn't going to get out of hand and will look good all year round.. The hedge that is in at the moment you can see through it as half of its dead.
  • danielthefrazerdanielthefrazer Posts: 9
    Marc, do feel free to ignore everyone's advice on not choosing Leylandii. It truly is an easy hedge to keep with one trim a year, and creates a lovely neat hedge that the birds love.
  • marc_mcintyremarc_mcintyre Posts: 8
    I think I'm going with the thuja red cedar. We already have a hedge in the garden (planted long time before we moved in) so I have to trim that one every other month anyway, so I know I will keep on top of it. This one is going in at the bottom of the garden as we want to make it a private seating area with summerhouse and at the moment can see right through into neighbours garden as the hedge is old and knackered. Cant wait to get it planted now.
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