Yew or Privet Or Box Hedge - which are easier to maintain?

galaxy12

We are looking to remove an overgrown and baldy cypress at the front of the house . Any recommendation between yew , Box or Privet ?
We want a formal hedge which can be shaped easily . Also a hedge trimmer I asked said that the he would leave the roots of the cypress and wont remove them but would that not effect any other hedge we plant now ?

many thanks

baaba maal

Yew is relatively slow-growing but looks lovely as a hedge. I don't know if I've ever seen a box hedge grown to "full" height i.e. for screening your home and I would consider it also quite slow-growing. Poor Mans Box (Lonicera) definitely works but I'm not a huge fan of it. Privet is privet and will do the job- as will laurel.

In terms of the stump and roots- if they were very big I would imagine it would make planting a new hedge a bit harder and may result in some gaps, but obviously without seeing the remains it is hard to say.

galaxy12

baaba maal wrote: »

Yew is relatively slow-growing but looks lovely as a hedge. I don't know if I've ever seen a box hedge grown to "full" height i.e. for screening your home and I would consider it also quite slow-growing. Poor Mans Box (Lonicera) definitely works but I'm not a huge fan of it. Privet is privet and will do the job- as will laurel.

In terms of the stump and roots- if they were very big I would imagine it would make planting a new hedge a bit harder and may result in some gaps, but obviously without seeing the remains it is hard to say.

Thanks . Yes we wanted the hedge to be low into around 4 ft height or grow upto a little above the wall .The cypress which is there right now is around 8 ft high .

lordgoat

Would you consider other native varieties? Or even Beech? A little more work but far nice than privet or box.

galaxy12

lordgoat wrote: »

Would you consider other native varieties? Or even Beech? A little more work but far nice than privet or box.

Thanks lordgoat.
Yes I Ike beech
We have around 10 mtr in the front and being on the main road were looking for screening all year round.
With beech I wasnt sure if they hold on to the dead leaves or how much maintainance it needs vs the others here
I could be wrong but will the native hedges be good for a formal low height we are aiming for..?

Lumen

I'd go for Yew.

There are loads of varieties which differ greatly in ultimate size, but the main thing is that they're fairly robust, long-lived and small-leaved, and so don't look weird when kept to a low height.

lordgoat

galaxy12 wrote: »

Thanks lordgoat.
Yes I Ike beech
We have around 10 mtr in the front and being on the main road were looking for screening all year round.
With beech I wasnt sure if they hold on to the dead leaves or how much maintainance it needs vs the others here
I could be wrong but will the native hedges be good for a formal low height we are aiming for..?

If you planted beech densely enough and trimmed it well then yes you'd have good coverage all year around (but again it would take a few years to get here)

Yew or Holly or a combination of Elder with black and/or white thorns.

macraignil

Lumen wrote: »

I'd go for Yew.

There are loads of varieties which differ greatly in ultimate size, but the main thing is that they're fairly robust, long-lived and small-leaved, and so don't look weird when kept to a low height.

Yew would be good for looking neat and tidy when kept trimmed regularly, but it is poisonous so I have avoided planting it myself.

Privet can make a nice hedge.

Box would be liable to get a rust disease and in that case could completely die unexpectedly.

I'd be inclined in the situation described going for something like a cotoneaster or osmanthus. The osmanthus burkwoodii I have is currently flowering and so would be good for pollinators early in the year when not much else has started to flower yet. The cotoneaster shrub seems to come to life in the summer with pollinators and the birds also seem to appreciate the berries. It is fairly vigorous so can be trimmed to a neat hedge if required but would require more regular trimming than the osmanthus. There are a number of varieties of cotoneaster and all seem fairly vigorous but I'm not a fan of the very small leaved horizontalis type.

galaxy12

macraignil wrote: »

Yew would be good for looking neat and tidy when kept trimmed regularly, but it is poisonous so I have avoided planting it myself.

Privet can make a nice hedge.

Box would be liable to get a rust disease and in that case could completely die unexpectedly.

I'd be inclined in the situation described going for something like a cotoneaster or osmanthus. The osmanthus burkwoodii I have is currently flowering and so would be good for pollinators early in the year when not much else has started to flower yet. The cotoneaster shrub seems to come to life in the summer with pollinators and the birds also seem to appreciate the berries. It is fairly vigorous so can be trimmed to a neat hedge if required but would require more regular trimming than the osmanthus. There are a number of varieties of cotoneaster and all seem fairly vigorous but I'm not a fan of the very small leaved horizontalis type.

Many thanks.
An important factor I missed stating here is that I am have a mild asthma although I haven't seen the cypress we have at right now trigger it (we moved to this house 2 years back )
Looking at the comments here I would stay away from box and privet.box being prone to blight and privet due to the allergens..
Didn't know that Yew was toxic although I would presume it's toxic to us and not birds ??

pointer28

Escallonia, evergreen with small flowers. I like it.

Yew is poisonous to livestock, horses etc but haven't heard of any ill effects to birdlife.

Rubberchikken

beech is lovely.
we have box hedges. one is waist height, average person height and the other is 5ft.
ive read that they're susceptible to disease if cut when wet.

magicbastarder

galaxy12 wrote: »

Didn't know that Yew was toxic although I would presume it's toxic to us and not birds ??

the red flesh on the berries is fine - the birds eat them, and excrete the seeds inside without issue. but apart from the flesh of the berries, i think pretty much everything else is toxic.

FWIW, i've just planted a beech hedge.

macraignil

galaxy12 wrote: »

Many thanks.
An important factor I missed stating here is that I am have a mild asthma although I haven't seen the cypress we have at right now trigger it (we moved to this house 2 years back )
Looking at the comments here I would stay away from box and privet.box being prone to blight and privet due to the allergens..
Didn't know that Yew was toxic although I would presume it's toxic to us and not birds ??

According to the yew Wikipedia page the pollen from yew can also be a trigger to asthma.