Plant suggestions to replace rosemary hedge?

nikirachael8891

Hi,
We have a rosemary hedge in our front garden which is getting eaten by beetles. (At edge of grass) We had this problem last year too and so have decided to plant something else there instead. We had a box hedge in the back garden once but that got devoured by caterpillars so just wanted some other ideas of what shrub/flowers would work best along the edge of the grass.
TIA

Fairygirl

Some of the smaller Hebes are ideal as a hedge. Lots of varieties available, but there's one called Buxifolia, which, as the name suggests, is very similar to box. You get the bonus of flowers on most of them too 
I'm guessing that if you're in a warm enough area for rosemary to thrive well, most Hebes would also be fine. In very cold, wet areas they can suffer through winter, and don't always come back from that after pruning.
Euonymous fortunei also can be grown as a low hedge. Plenty of varieties readily available. The flowers are almost invisible, but they're largely grown for their variegated foliage. 
The shrubby honeysuckle - Lonicera nitida can also be kept small, but it will require more trimming than some other plants to keep it tidy. There's also L. pileata - very similar. They also have small flowers followed by berries, but the frequent trimming removes a lot of them. 

Busy-Lizzie

When I saw the question I thought Lavender, but those beetles like lavender too. What about a row of salvia nemorosa like "Blauhugel"?

B3

Euonymous emerald gaiety stays quite small, easily pruned easy to propagate, drought tolerant and mine is pest free.
Mine hasn't grown much over two feet after three or four years. I just give it a light trim now and then.

Fairygirl

Yes - all the E. fortuneis are fine @B3. Emerald and Gold is another easy one.
Some of them are less hardy here, but if rosemary survives winter in the OP's garden,  most would be fine. 

nikirachael8891

nikirachael8891 said:

Hi,
We have a rosemary hedge in our front garden which is getting eaten by beetles. (At edge of grass) We had this problem last year too and so have decided to plant something else there instead. We had a box hedge in the back garden once but that got devoured by caterpillars so just wanted some other ideas of what shrub/flowers would work best along the edge of the grass.
TIA

Thank you, that’s great! I’ve googled those and they are all the kind of thing I was after. I’m in the south of England and rosemary has been fine here minus the beetles.

nikirachael8891

Thank you everyone! I’ll have a look at all your suggestions! 😊

nikirachael8891

Busy-Lizzie said:

When I saw the question I thought Lavender, but those beetles like lavender too. What about a row of salvia nemorosa like "Blauhugel"?

Busy-Lizzie said:

When I saw the question I thought Lavender, but those beetles like lavender too. What about a row of salvia nemorosa like "Blauhugel"?

Do you know if this is evergreen or does it die down in the winter? 

Athelas

Salvias will die down over winter and come back in spring.

You may have already come across them in your searches, have a look at Euonymus japonicus 'Jean Hugues’ and Euonymus japonicus 'Green Spire’ — they are evergreen if that’s what you’re looking for.

Busy-Lizzie

Hadn't realised you wanted evergreen, I was thinking of flowers.

nikirachael8891

@Busy-Lizzie
I’m open to ideas, just wasn’t sure if all salvias do die down over winter. I do love salvia though and could plant those and then when they die down put some bedding plants there until they come back again maybe?