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Ideas for low hedge

jayne10bjayne10b Posts: 105
in Plants
I would like to grow a low hedge (about 50cm tall) at the front of my border. The obvious choice would be box, but given how slow growing it is and the fact that it might be susceptible to box blight, I thought it would be worth considering other possibilities. Do any of you gardeners have a low growing, continuous, neat looking hedge that you might recommend?

Posts

  • PerkiPerki Posts: 2,527
    The usual other go to hedges , I normally recommend yew if you don't want bux. Other are Ilex crenta - lonicera nitida - berbies - euonymus or somthing a bit different from what I've said Lavender
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Cotoneaster for me, you can cut it as much as you like and it thickens up, if you leave prunings on the ground they’ll root themselves, so if you need to fill a gap just poke a bit in the ground. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited March 2019
    I have some very low Lonicera nitida hedges edging borders (about 8-12 inches depending how hard I've cut them) which have been there for over 15 years, probably nearer 20.  It does work but I trim them often - maybe every six weeks or so but I don't count, I just do it when I notice them looking shaggy. You could certainly keep them to 50 cm and quite narrow.  Mine are the yellow/gold kind which goes with that part of the garden but there's a green one too. 
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Partly depends on how long a run of hedge you want. Ilex crenata is good but expensive, Yew already mentioned can be expensive unless you can get it bare root but it's getting late in the season for bare root. 
    AB Still learning

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    You have some good suggestions already. I do think that Euonymus Fortunei is a good substitute for Box. They come in a variety of leaf colours too. Cotoneasters make good hedges in general, but for lower hedges, Dammeri and Microphyllus are good options. 

    Other alternatives that will work, Brachyglottis Greyi can form a nice medium to low silvery grey hedge, and Abelia Grandiflora can also be pruned and trained into a low hedge. Once established, can be quite fast growing, so not ideal if you don't have the time to prune back hard.
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