Birthday
HydrangeasA hedge screens your garden from prying eyes, wind and dust, divides it into areas and gives birds a home. It can be a crisp clipped wall or a loose flowering strip. Here is how to choose plants for the height you need, how to plant a hedge and how to shape it so it stays dense from top to bottom.
Garden plants are in our potted plants section.
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Types of hedge
- Clipped (formal) — clean lines and regular trimming; thuja, hornbeam, privet, yew and box work well.
- Informal — shrubs grow naturally and flower; spiraea, forsythia, lilac, dog rose and ninebark suit this style.
- Single or double row — in a double row plants are staggered for a denser hedge.
Which plants to choose
Consider the height you need, the light and how much time you want to spend clipping. Fast growers form a screen sooner but need trimming more often. Conifers give year-round cover; deciduous shrubs are cheaper and recover faster from clipping mistakes.
How to plant
- When: spring or early autumn; container plants can go in all season, avoiding heatwaves.
- Marking out: run a string line and dig a trench about 50 cm wide and deep.
- Spacing: 50–70 cm for thuja, 30–50 cm for privet and spiraea; in a double row, stagger the plants.
- After planting: water well and mulch; keep watering regularly through the first season.
How to get a dense hedge
- Cut deciduous shrubs (privet, hornbeam, spiraea) back by about a third after planting so they branch from the base.
- Clip the hedge into a trapezoid — wider at the bottom than the top — so lower branches get light and stay leafy.
- In the first years clip lightly but regularly, letting the hedge gain height gradually.
- Trim a mature formal hedge 2–3 times a season, the last time no later than late summer.
Care
- Feed in spring and water during summer droughts.
- Before clipping in spring and summer, check for nesting birds.
- Protect young conifers from winter drying and spring scorch.
For choosing conifers see Conifers for the garden, and for shaped clipping see Garden topiary.
FAQ
How fast will a hedge grow?
Privet and spiraea form a dense hedge in 2–3 years, thuja and hornbeam in 3–5; yew is slower.
Why is my hedge bare at the bottom?
Usually lack of light — it was clipped straight-sided or wider at the top. Trapezoid clipping and renovation pruning of deciduous shrubs help.
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Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
