Green Privacy: Best Hedging Plants for Creating a Private Garden
- By Chandler Harrod
Privacy is a sought-after commodity in our ever-busy, interconnected world, and your garden should be a haven where you can unwind and relax away from prying eyes. Using hedging for privacy screening has grown in popularity due to its natural aesthetics, environmental benefits, and versatility in design. This blog will guide you through the best hedging plants for privacy and shed light on the art of using hedges in diverse ways to create your perfect garden sanctuary.
Contents of This Article
The Rise of Hedging in Gardens
The increase in urban living and smaller gardens has pushed the need for privacy to the forefront of garden design. Hedges, with their lush greenery and sound-absorbing properties, offer a visually pleasing and eco-friendly solution. They serve as a natural habitat for local wildlife, improving garden biodiversity, and their transpiration process aids in cooling local environments.
The Best Hedging Plants for Privacy
This evergreen hedge grows quickly, providing a dense, tall screen with large, glossy leaves. It thrives in most soil types and conditions, making it a versatile choice.
Another fast-growing evergreen, Griselinia is the lesser known hedging option. However, it is becoming increasingly popular due to it’s ability to thrive in harsh weather conditions. It’s the best choice for those living close to the coast and is a non-toxic alternative to laurel.
Known for its dense, dark green foliage, yew makes a fantastic formal hedge. It’s slow-growing but highly durable and can be cut back severely if needed.
With its attractive green leaves that turn copper in autumn, hornbeam adds seasonal interest to your garden. It’s suitable for wetter soils and provides excellent privacy.
Another fast-growing hedge, privet is a traditional choice that can be clipped into formal shapes. It’s semi-evergreen, meaning it retains its leaves in all but the harshest winters.
These five selections of hedging are only some recommendations to get you thinking about what is best for you and your garden. However, there is a lot more out there! A variety of hedging plants could offer you privacy, including evergreens, natives and conifers. If you’d like to browse more varieties click here.
Methods of Using Hedging for Privacy
When it comes to creating a privacy hedge of your choice, you have a few style options available. For more natural and wild looking garden mix a variety of native plants to form a sanctuary for wildlife and create year-round interest.
Formal Clipping
For a neat, formal look, regularly clip your hedges into clean lines or interesting shapes. Yew and boxwood are particularly suitable for this approach. These plants allow you to be creative, whilst providing complete privacy.
Pleaching
This ancient technique involves interweaving the branches of trees to form a raised hedge. While it requires more skill, the result is a unique, elegant screen, perfect for small gardens. Suitable trees for pleaching include Portuguese laurel, hornbeam, and beech.
Hedge Screens
For immediate privacy, consider mature hedge screening. These are tall, fully-grown hedges that can be installed for instant screening. Harrod Outdoors specializes in privacy screening, whether that be in any of the above options or supersize hedging. If you need privacy, instantly, we’ve got you covered.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hedging offers a multitude of options for creating privacy in your garden. From the plant selection to the method of training, each decision lets you customise your hedge to your taste and needs. So, whether you prefer the formality of a neatly clipped yew hedge or the relaxed growth of a laurel, let hedging transform your garden into a private oasis.
