At Harrods Outdoor, our main goal is pairing our customers to the perfect hedging for their garden and lifestyle. We understand that choosing your ideal hedging needs good consideration and factors like density, appearance and growth rate are vital to ensuring our customers receive the plants that are best suited for them.
As the weather turns cooler and the days become shorter, autumn has truly arrived. However, that doesn’t mean planting your ideal hedging has to be postponed. Autumn is actually the best time to plant new hedging and allow it to establish itself in your garden as the soil is warm and wet, offering great protection around the new roots to protect them from the colder weather conditions outside. You can plant a range of types of plants in this season too, including pot grown, root ball and bare root hedging.
As well as privacy, wind and noise protection and ground coverage, a good hedge should complement your garden’s aesthetic. Therefore, we have created a list of our top 5 evergreen hedging plants that keep their leaves in all seasons and so will bring year-round colour and vibrancy into your garden, regardless of the weather. All the plants below are available for purchase at the Harrods Outdoor website, where you can also find our contact details for free advice and quotes from our horticultural experts on what hedging plants, we suggest for yourself and your garden.
Yew hedging is always a great choice for those who are after a traditional look for their garden. It is a native hedging and so it grows well in most UK soil types and is always extremely popular with British wildlife also. The foliage is a stunning emerald, green colour that becomes even more striking as the red berries emerge in March and April. The hedging is slower growing than other evergreens and so it is great for those looking for a hedging with lower maintenance. The Yew is also very hardy and so only requires occasional watering and pruning, however, can sometimes be at risk of fungal infections if the soil is not well-drained. They can be grown to tall hedges offering great privacy or at smaller heights for low borders and so we have placed this hedging at number 5 because of its many uses and year-round, stunning colour.
When aiming to add more colour to your garden, Red Robin hedging is always second to none and the fact that the plant is evergreen just adds to its impact as you can enjoy this colour year-round. Like the Yew, Red Robin plants can have multiple uses as they can be grown in hedges up to several meters tall or they can be planted decoratively around the garden to add new, brighter dimensions. They are fast growing and respond well to pruning and so can be maintained at a range of heights. They are hardy plants, withstanding the colder temperatures well, helping them keep a good survival rate in the harsher UK weather. We have ranked the Red Robin at number 4 due to its good growth rate and ability to brighten any garden with its unique and impressive foliage.
Box hedging is a plant with endless possibilities, as it is perfect for low ground borders, flowerbed protection and topiary as they can be carved into a wide range of shapes and images. The plant is slow growing and so is the perfect option for topiary as the shapes require minimal pruning to keep them maintained. Box hedging allows you to decide exactly how you want the plant to appear, helping you add your own artwork to your garden which is only emphasised with its beautiful, green foliage. Box is typically a hardy plant but does require some TLC when it is first getting established and benefits from good watering and feeds to avoid any yellowing of the leaves. The evergreen nature of Box then helps to keep these shapes intact year-round, giving your garden a classical look. It is for this reason we have placed Box at number 3 as our customers and gardeners always praise the hedging for its versatility.
Griselinia is on its way to becoming one of the UK’s most popular hedging choices and it isn’t hard to see why. The hedging is a great option for all locations and soil types, especially any coastal locations due to its tolerance to wind and salt air and will offer a lovely light green foliage for all gardens. Griselinia is a good affordable, fast-growing option also and so is a great way to economically grow some dense hedging ideal for protection and privacy. The plant also has a rare quality of no reported toxicity, making it a great option for those with children and pets who they are wary of around the garden and for those who want to encourage a range of wildlife into their gardens. Griselinia is a low maintenance plant, providing it is kept well cared for with watering and pruning as it is first getting established. It is this fast growth and easy care that places the Griselinia into 2nd place, only narrowly missing out on first place.
At first place of our autumn recommendations is the Cherry Laurel, a stunning and fast-growing hedging that is a great option for all customers. The Laurel grows densely when planted together and so creates an impressively dense hedging, offering great protection from neighbours and wind as they can grow up to several meters tall if preferred. Like the Griselinia, they can be a good affordable option for customers who wish to grow the hedging from a smaller size as they will establish themselves very quickly. The Laurel is a hardy plant, withstanding most weather conditions well and have a great survival rate even if the leaves are beginning to yellow, with some additional watering and feeding the plant will re-grow to its full health very quickly. It is this success rate of the Cherry Laurel that earns it the 1st place spot for us at Harrods Outdoor, and the evergreen colour is just a great addition.