Ideas for flowering evergreen hedge please - based on your own experience

morebabies

Hi

As per title, I have a border around my garden about 200ft in length, and I want to put a hedge that would be evergreen and flowering, easy on the eye but not too high maintenance.

At the moment, I'm looking at Rosa Rugosa, I see there's red and white varieties available, but I don't think it's evergreen and I don't want it to look too woody and messy during winter as we're right beside a main road. Maybe during winter it looks ok, has anyone experience of this variety?

Otherwise any other varieties anyone could recommend? I'm all ears. We are in the west of Ireland and the garden would be pretty exposed too.

Thanks in advance.

Denis322

You could always try laurel hedges. I know you said flowering hedge, but we've got it around our garden, does a great job sheltering it from the wind. Mightn't be the most colourful but sure you only have to trim it once a year or so.

morebabies

Denis322 wrote: »

You could always try laurel hedges. I know you said flowering hedge, but we've got it around our garden, does a great job sheltering it from the wind. Mightn't be the most colourful but sure you only have to trim it once a year or so.

Thanks that had been my first idea until I found out it would be poisonous for cattle, so unfortunately not, but yes it's a very attractive hedge.

lottpaul

If your garden is a bit exposed a hedge of any flowering shrub may struggle. Rosa rugosa can look shabby in the winter time but is tough as old boots and can grow quite quickly. You can get double flowered varieties too and the scent is very nice also.
I have seen some lovely hydrangea hedges growing on cliff tops here in Kerry but they are deciduous too. They do hold the old flower heads during the winter and these can be quite attractive.
Hebes would give you a low, bushy, evergreen flowering hedge. They are a little "old fashioned" for some tastes but they will also grow quickly and need little maintenance. Choose plain green as opposed to variegated types - they are tougher - a local garden centre/nursery could advise you.

mountainy man

A couple of sugestions , Olearia macrodonta- very tough flowering evergreen with white daisy clusters, Berberis darwinii- as tough/hardy as above with orange flowers and tiny holly like leaves with berries later which are good for the birds.

I have these as shrubs not a hedge but have seen them used, I have used rosa rugosa in a mixed hedge and is good, plus the large hips give some interest in autumn/winter, also the colouring of the leaves before they fall is a lovely rich butter yellow. I find that the red one grows stronger and flowers better than the white one.
I hope this helps.

honeybunny1984

how about Pittosporum 'Garnetii' ? its fast growing, has sorta bluey/silver variegated foliage often tinged with pink and tiny little purple flowers that smell utterly divine. here's a link = http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=3840

or Holly ? you could do far worse than a good ol' Holly hedge, dense evergreen foliage, tiny white flowers followed by those beautiful red berries.

whatever you choose there's nothing stopping you planting a couple of climbers to scramble through them, like clematis or honeysuckle for extra flowers

morebabies

Thanks for your replies, really enlightening, especially the idea about getting some climbers to go through the hedge because there is an unsightly wall on one border that could do with covering.

I've just seen another variety there as I was googling - snowy mespilus / amelanchier lamarckii/ juneberry. Not evergreen but in bloom it looked so beautiful I could maybe forgo that part of my wishlist. Edible too.

Oldtree

here in mayo I've seen a number of fushia hedges with ivy growing through it

pwurple

If you're in the country, would you consider a native ditch type planting instead of a hedge?