Planting hedges in your garden has so many positive benefits
Apart from being the cheaper option to fencing or a wall, hedges are aesthetically pleasing, sustainable and good for wildlife bringing flowers, berries and leaves. Hedge roots act like a sponge absorbing and holding onto rain water, resulting in less surface run-off and more water storage in the soil. Hedges act as windbreaks from prevailing winds, reducing air pollution by taking harmful carbon out of the atmosphere, and giving us clean air. Dense evergreen hedges with thick branches like Holly, Thuja plicata and yew help reduce traffic and noisy neighbours!
Evergreen, deciduous, flowering, formal or informal
- Before choosing your hedge for your garden there are a few things to consider.
- What height do you want your hedge to be maintained?
- Choose the right plant to suit your soil conditions and situation.
- Check what plants grow well locally given similar growing conditions.
Evergreen
If privacy and formality takes priority in your garden choose an evergreen as they make excellent hedges with the added bonus of providing shelter and privacy all year round. However, they never stop growing and for this reason they do tend to take more maintenance pruning, ideally twice each year with the exception of slow growing yew. Elaeagnus, Holly, Thuja plicata, laurel, Conifer are popular choices, bearing in mind that if cut into the old wood Conifer will not grow back;
Deciduous
Deciduous hedges give a more natural look, providing flowers, berries and shelter for birds, mammals, bees and other insects. These hedges filter wind so you won't get turbulence as with evergreens however, they do not hold on to their leaves during winter so you won't get the privacy that you do with evergreens (with the exception of beech which holds onto its brown leaves and looks very pretty especially when caught by frost,) Privet, Hawthorn, Hornbeam, Native mix, Rosa canina, Elder, Rowan, Field maple make very good wildlife friendly native hedges. Deciduous hedges are less maintenance and can be left for a year or two before being cut back and respond well to winter pruning and rejuvenation.
Best hedges to filter noise and pollution
Evergreen shrubs with dense growth from the ground upwards will supply all year round cover and depending on the size of the problem can be interspersed with deciduous trees. If planting on a budget Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata has dense growth and is fast growing so smaller plants can be purchased initially. Leylandii hedging plants are also a fast growing species but would require maintenance at least twice a year to keep it shaped to a good structure.
The English Yew does a great job at filtering noise and pollution but has a much slower growing habit and so if the hedge needs to be established urgently larger plants would need to be purchased.Cherry laurel, Portuguese laurel, Griselinia and the slower growing Holly all make good sound barriers although not quite as thick a covering as Thuja or Yew.
To extend the height if not possible with the hedge then planting trees interspersed along hedges can reduce pollution and noise. Trees with larger leaves such as poplar, Rowan and Aspen are very effective during spring and summer.
Some variety of plants up to 2 metres in height which have been trimmed and grown as a hedge can also be purchased and planted to give instant hedge coverage.
Best hedges for biodiversity and wildlife
If you want to attract wildlife to your garden a mixed native hedge provides flowers for pollinating bees, butterflies and other insects, berries, fruit or nuts for birds and mammals and shelter for a range of other species.
Hawthorn makes a great hedge with its thorny dense growth providing perfect nesting sites for birds, along with flowers for pollinators, fruits in autumn for birds and mammals.
Blackthorn or the sloe is a shrubby tree with flowers and so bring a much needed source of nectar for bees early in the year. The leaves are a food source for butterflies and moths.
Wild Privet is a great wildlife friendly hedge and a favourite for nesting birds, the flowers are popular for butterflies and bees.
Rowan or mountain ash tree makes a beautiful tree or hedge with berries in autumn much loved by birds such as the waxwing, robin, or song thrush.
The uk native field maple is a brilliant hedging plant for wildlife. Bees in particular are attracted to the flowers, aphids are attracted to the leaves, which then attract predators into the garden such as hover flies and ladybirds.
Hornbeam is a native tree and wildlife friendly. The dense foliage makes great nesting sites and it holds on to its leaves over winter proving a secure shelter.
At Benita's Garden Services we offer regular garden maintenance, seasonal lawn care, tree and shrub pruning, hedge trimming, perennial care, sourcing, planning and planting.
Call: 07891985701
