Which small border hedge plant??

owb82

Hi Guys

I'm looking to create the effect shown in the picture below. I have also included a pic of the plot I'm going to put it in. I don't know which hedge would be best suited. Originally I was thinking box hedge but a friend has told me it doesn't smell nice and its poisonous to kids.

Any ideas on the best hedge plant to put in to create a small border hedge?

Thanks very much

Alan

owb82

Hi Thanks for your reply.

Looking at photos of that species it looks very yellow. Looking for something like the photo. green effect.

owb82

My mother in law has a privet hedge. Is that something that will make a nice small border hedge? We can take cuttings for free from hers.

Also what hedge do people think is in the original photo?

Thanks again for any feedback

Alan

KeenOnGreen

Privet will grow too quickly, it won't keep a nice shape unless you trim it quite regularly.  We have a dwarf Euonymus, the variety is Green Spire.  I've seen it used instead of Box, to create a small, neat formal hedge.  It looks very similar to Box.  You could also consider Japanese Holly (Ilex Crenata), although we had some sort of disease problems with ours, and had to get rid of them.  No such problems with our Euonymus.

Butterfly66

The original photo looks like it is box. Re it being poisonous, I expect you would have to eat the hedge for it to do anything more than an upset stomach. 

The simple species Lonicera nitida is a light green. Euonymus Jean Hughes or Green Rocket are often cited as alternatives to box. Yew can also be used as low hedge. Rosemary can be used for hedging as well.

Your bed looks quite narrow? So bear that in mind when choosing your hedging so you have enough room for something in the middle - you will probably need about 30cm width for most things,

Fairygirl

There are plenty of green loniceras. The golden one is Baggeson's Gold, most likely

Hebes make good low hedges if you want a rounded shape. There are a few which are like box anyway = Buxifolia being one [strangely enough  ]

amancalledgeorge

Box smells gorgeous to me...shame it's not viable as a plant in the South East anymore. A nice replacement is Euonymus japonicus 'Microphyllus' which remains small and it's a doddle to keep in shape. Probably better off planting more 9cm plants and wait for them to meet in a year's time than buying mature plants that will struggle through the summer and cost much more. Here's a seller for pricing info: http://www.hedgingandtrees.co.uk/euonymus_japonicus_microphyllus.html 

Can you give us the dimensions of your bed as it doesn't look particularly generous. 

I'd just fill it with a colourful annual and have months of interest for very little care and then plant lots of tulips in the autumn for a stunning Spring show next year. 

And as for plants being poisonous to children...you have to teach them not to eat ornamentals...can't be that hard. Easier to explain to than to pets 😉

owb82

Thanks for the quick responses. The bed measures 4.1m x 1.5m I will have a look at some of the options mentioned