Low hedge alternatives - help!

HannaBanana · November 2023

Hello!

I have been thinking about this far too long now and I am no wiser.

I have a rectangular front garden 7m wide x 5m, and I am looking for ideas for what to do with the area next to the curb. I initially planted lavender as a hedge but it is unhappy and scrappy looking - I want to take it out and replace with something which looks neat all year round for a tidy edge. The rest of the garden is gravel with a few shrubs, grasses, nepeta, salvia, verbena - quite ‘loose’ and I like that but it sometimes feels a bit too frothy and messy.

Any ideas? I’ve considered lonicera nitida but it seems to need so much clipping to keep low (I don’t want a tall hedge), hornbeam but I don’t know if I can keep that as low as I want (and don’t want it to be too wide either).

I’m in the southwest on clay with pretty wet winters!

Fairygirl · November 2023

Hi @HannaBanana - there's been a query today about Euonymous [fortuneii] and they're very useful as a low hedge. Lots of different varieties and easily available. YOu can clip them in a fairly formal way or leave them a bit looser, depending on your preference.
Very tough, although I find the odd one or two aren't totally hardy here where I am. Emerald and Gold and Emerald Gaiety are reliable though.

Plantminded · November 2023

Euonymus green spire makes a nice low hedge, like box but without the problems. I have some growing in partial shade and full sun, all happy, on sandy soil.

Rubytoo · November 2023

There is a lonicera that is not nitida, just trying to think what it is called but it is short and wide rather than scrappy spikey like nitida. Needs less trimming. Pileata?
That is neater and used locally by council/developers near us on verges and places on clay too here.

Also your starter for ten is a few shorter cotoneasters make a good low short hedge or slightly spready low "hedge" ground cover.
Many smalller ones have the early flowers and look pretty along with berries in the autumn, if you choose the right type for your site that does not need a trim too often.

So may types if you use a search engine and type cotoneaster and the height and spread you want.

Euonymous too. Several newer hybrid/varieties.

Check the Wisley RHS site they have a whole range and show garden of low growing hedge types to replace Box. So you may find something there too.

JennyJ · November 2023

I clip my Lonicera nitida mini-hedge about four times a year which I don't think is excessive, keeping it at about 8 inches/20 cm tall and maybe 5 or 6 inches wide. With it being so small, basically a border edging, it's no trouble to trim by hand. It's the gold/yellow form so perhaps not as vigorous as the green form.

Rubytoo · November 2023

HannaBanana · November 2023

Thank you all so much - lots of ideas for me to mull over!

On a different tangent, I did go for a walk on my lunch break today and really do love the colouring of hornbeam hedges - can they be kept to say a metre, or is that just silly? How wide do they get if planted in a single row?

Rubytoo · November 2023

Jennyj's form is possibly "Baggesen's Gold".
The full name, if you want to look for it, is Lonicera ligustrina var. yunnanensis
It is very nice, and makes a nice bright statement.
I wanted to grow it here but we have a lot of shade so was afraid it would revert.

I must say also that I do not mind a regular clipping of the ordinary lonicera, while ours were growing in pots before used some to replace box. I found the clipping to make it busy and small initially was not much and quite therapeutic.

And the Berberis there is an evergreen one called I think darwinii nana which has tiny leaves and grows very slowly.
Looks like a mini version of its big brother/sister .
Very cute, and also has the same bright orangey flowers .
As it is very small you can possibly afford to leave it to flower, or even berry up before it needs cutting.
I have not watched closely but someone up 't road has a small hedge of it fronting their property and it looks good.

A tidy edge and a full stop of not frothy.

HannaBanana · November 2023

I am very often accused of planting as if I have a huge garden when I unfortunately don’t so you’re probably right @pansyface!

Fire · November 2023

I can recommend upright bushy salvia for low hedging. Neat and tidy it isn't but has many advantages - a wide colour range, food for pollinators, long season of flower, pretty maintenance, easy to grow new plants from cuttings, colour up the neighbourhood. It might be worth a go, or just trying one or two plants and see how they do. You could create a poor gravelly bed for them to aid drainage, but if nepeta and verbena are going ok I would think they should be ok. Once developed, you can use a strimmer on it to determine the height you want. Upright bushy salvia types I have used are Hot Lips, Bumble and So Cool Pale Blue.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/xz/0pt8q9hm2zsb.jpg

Fairygirl · November 2023

The advantage of the loniceras [nitida or pileata] is that they're very hardy and reliable, and don't care about soil type or aspect, unlike some other plants, which might be more showy. Ideal as a formal edging.
If you buy them small - and you would get them bare root at this time of year too, which is very inexpensive, you can plant densely and keep them small from the start. B's Gold can get quite sizeable over time, but it also survives being cut back hard too. I've had it in several gardens.
You can also take cuttings very easily from them. I'm currently planting a home grown hedge of one of the green varieties, all from cuttings taken over the last couple of years. Can't recall which one it is, but they're all easy to grow and manage.

Low hedge alternatives - help!

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