Plants suited to hedging, both deciduous and evergreen. Each plant page gives the planting distance and shop prices by size.
82 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Taxus × media 2.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dark green, dense evergreen and one of the best plants for a clipped hedge: it grows in sun and deep shade alike, copes well with city air and…
Cupressus arizonica 3.5 m × 1 m after 10 years
A blue-grey, scale-leaved evergreen that is mostly sold in slim, columnar forms: a handsome specimen in a warm, sunny spot, a screen when planted in a…
Aronia melanocarpa 1.8 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An undemanding, completely hardy fruiting shrub: flat heads of white flowers in May, clusters of black, astringent berries ripening in late summer and…
Sambucus nigra 4 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
A native, very fast-growing, spreading shrub or small tree that carries large, creamy white, strongly scented flower plates from late spring and…
Prunus spinosa 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A native, very thorny shrub that is covered in white blossom in early spring before the leaves, and one of the best wildlife hedges: impenetrable,…
Ilex × meserveae 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense evergreen shrub with glossy, blue-green, spiny leaves that is much hardier than English holly, so it works both as an impenetrable hedge and…
Forsythia × intermedia 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A fast-growing shrub with arching branches that are lined with golden yellow flowers in early spring, before the leaves appear. It is undemanding,…
Lonicera nitida 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
Box honeysuckle is a small-leaved, glossy evergreen shrub that grows fast and takes clipping at almost any time, so it is used for low hedges,…
Spiraea × vanhouttei 2 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An old, proven flowering shrub: in May its arching branches are covered along their whole length with small white flower clusters, as if dusted with…
Amelanchier canadensis 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
An upright, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub or small tree that is covered in white flower clusters in April before the leaves open, ripens edible,…
Prunus laurocerasus 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A fast-growing evergreen with glossy leaves and one of the most popular hedging plants: it grows in sun and shade alike and takes hard pruning well.…
Prunus laurocerasus 'Novita' 4.5 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
For a fast-growing screen that stays leafy all year, 'Novita' offers large, glossy leaves, but needs regular clipping and watering while establishing.…
Chaenomeles speciosa 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
A dense, spiny shrub that reaches head height and flowers in early spring before the leaves: depending on the cultivar the white, pink or red blooms…
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Columnaris' 3.5 m × 1 m after 10 years
A false cypress that forms a slim, dense column branched to the ground, with steely blue-green scale-like foliage and stiffly upright branches. In ten…
Cornus sanguinea 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Common dogwood is a tough native shrub of woodland edges: its white flower heads feed insects in early summer, the black berries feed birds, the…
Crataegus monogyna 4 m × 3 m after 10 years
A thorny large shrub or small tree that is covered in scented white blossom in May and loaded with red haws in autumn, much loved by birds. It makes…
Syringa vulgaris 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, long-lived deciduous shrub grown for its strongly scented flower clusters in spring. It copes well with sun, heat and limy soil, and with…
Taxus baccata 4 m × 2.1 m after 10 years
Its dense, dark green foliage makes a useful evergreen hedge or a clipped garden feature, even in shade. It tolerates pruning well, but eventually…
Symphoricarpos × doorenbosii 1.5 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
This hybrid snowberry is an almost indestructible, dense shrub with arching branches: its tiny, inconspicuous flowers are popular with bees and are…
Santolina chamaecyparissus 50 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen subshrub with silver-grey, finely cut, strongly aromatic foliage that grows into a tight little dome and carries yellow button flowers in…
Salix integra 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
Nurseries sell it almost only as the variegated cultivar 'Hakuro-nishiki': the spring shoots are dappled pink, white and green and turn mostly green…
Elaeagnus × ebbingei 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A vigorous, dense evergreen shrub with leathery leaves that are glossy dark green above and silvery beneath, bearing tiny, barely visible but strongly…
Ilex aquifolium 2.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, dense evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy dark green or variegated leaves edged with spines, at its best in winter when the…
Lavandula angustifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, grey-leaved, scented subshrub covered for weeks in early summer with purple, blue, pink or white flower spikes that bees and butterflies…
Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
'Hidcote' forms a compact mound of silvery foliage topped with fragrant, dark-purple flowers that attract bees. It works well along sunny borders,…
Fagus sylvatica 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A huge woodland tree with smooth grey bark and deep shade that makes a fine specimen in a large garden and, when clipped, a classic hedge: the hedge…
Carpinus betulus 6 m × 4.5 m after 10 years
It makes a dense hedge that responds well to clipping, but grows into a large shade tree if left unpruned. The foliage turns yellow in autumn, and…
Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata' 6 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A dense hornbeam with upswept branches that is a slim column when young, which makes it a good vertical accent in a border and, planted in a row, a…
Ulmus minor 7 m × 4 m after 10 years
A native, fast growing tree of floodplains and lowlands that reaches 20 to 30 metres and copes well with drought, chalky soil, city air and occasional…
Acer campestre 4.5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native, undemanding small to medium tree that copes with drought, lime and clay, city air and hard clipping, and turns a good yellow in autumn. Left…
Pyracantha coccinea 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A dense, fiercely thorny evergreen shrub with clusters of white flowers in late spring and masses of red or orange berries from autumn to late winter,…
Rosa Floribunda Group 90 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
The floribunda (the small-flowered polyantha roses belong here too) is a low, bushy rose that carries its flowers in clusters at the shoot tips and…
Ribes sanguineum 2.2 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A fast-growing, upright then arching, thornless ornamental shrub that is covered in April, as the leaves emerge, with hanging clusters of crimson,…
Chaenomeles × superba 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, spreading, thorny deciduous shrub that covers itself in large, waxy, mostly red flowers in early spring before the leaves, when little else…
Fargesia nitida 3 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A clump-forming bamboo: unlike running bamboos it does not send out far-reaching rhizomes, the clump only thickens slowly, so you can plant it without…
Abelia × grandiflora 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A semi-evergreen shrub with arching branches and glossy leaves that carries small, white, pink-flushed, scented bell flowers from early summer until…
Santolina rosmarinifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A Mediterranean subshrub with bright green, thread-fine aromatic foliage that forms a dense cushion and is covered with pale yellow button flowers…
Spiraea × cinerea 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, rounded bush with thin, arching shoots that are covered along their whole length with tiny snow-white flowers in April, before the leaves…
Viburnum opulus 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A fast-growing, large native shrub with lobed, maple-like leaves, flat white lacecap flowers in May and June, red autumn foliage and glossy red…
Osmanthus heterophyllus 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, spiny leaves that look like holly, bearing tiny white flowers in autumn whose scent carries a long way…
Berberis × media 1.3 m × 1.4 m after 10 years
A dense, rounded, thorny barberry with small glossy leaves that mostly stay on the bush in a mild winter and turn bright red and bronze in autumn.…
Hyssopus officinalis 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, aromatic, woody-based subshrub that draws bees and butterflies with spikes of blue, or less often pink or white, flowers from early summer into…
Berberis thunbergii 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, spiny, undemanding deciduous shrub grown mainly for its green, burgundy, yellow or variegated foliage, vivid autumn colour and red berries…
Ilex crenata 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
A small-leaved, glossy, spineless evergreen that looks deceptively like box when clipped, so it is planted in its place for low hedges, edging and…
Kerria japonica 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
An undemanding deciduous shrub that covers its arching stems, which stay bright green all winter, with golden yellow flowers in April and May;…
Euonymus japonicus 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen shrub with glossy, leathery leaves that takes clipping well, so it works as a low to medium hedge, a screen or a container plant, and…
Viburnum tinus 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
A Mediterranean evergreen viburnum with dark, glossy foliage that flowers from late autumn in mild winters, otherwise from late winter into spring:…
Lavandula × intermedia 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A bigger, more vigorous hybrid than true lavender: a grey-green, aromatic subshrub that carries long-stemmed, strongly scented flower spikes in summer…
Viburnum rhytidophyllum 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A large evergreen shrub with long, deeply wrinkled dark green leaves that screens all year, so it is excellent as a tall, loosely kept screen or…
× Cuprocyparis leylandii 8 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A very fast evergreen that gives you a tall, dense privacy hedge within a few years, but only choose it if you have the room and the time. It grows…
Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Large flower panicles change from lime green to creamy white and pink, bringing colour from midsummer into autumn as a specimen shrub or an informal…
Philadelphus coronarius 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, upright then arching deciduous shrub grown for its white, intensely sweet-scented flowers in late May and June: plant it near a patio or seat…
Physocarpus opulifolius 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
An undemanding, fast-growing deciduous shrub with arching branches, rounded clusters of white or pinkish flowers in May and June and reddish, inflated…
Spiraea nipponica 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, tough shrub with arching branches that are covered along their whole length with clusters of tiny white flowers in late spring and early…
Mahonia aquifolium 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A slow-growing evergreen shrub with glossy, holly-like, spiny-edged leaves that copes with shade and part shade under trees, where few other shrubs…
Ligustrum ovalifolium 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
An undemanding hedging shrub with glossy dark green leaves that thickens up quickly, grows in almost any soil and copes well with city air. It keeps…
Photinia × fraseri 'Red Robin' 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
Glossy evergreen leaves and bright red new shoots make this a colourful hedge or a striking standalone shrub. Give it sun or partial shade, shelter…
Prunus lusitanica 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A dense, elegant evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy dark green leaves that are narrower than those of cherry laurel, reddish young shoots and…
Viburnum × pragense 2.5 m × 2.2 m after 10 years
A fast-growing, dense evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, veined leaves; in late May it carries flat heads of creamy white, lightly scented…
Lonicera pileata 60 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, wide-spreading, dense shrub with small glossy dark green leaves that makes a dependable ground cover in sun or shade, on banks, under trees…
Aronia × prunifolia 1.8 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An undemanding, very hardy berry shrub: white flower clusters in May, glossy purple-black berries in early autumn and bright red leaves before leaf…
Salix purpurea 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A willow of river banks with thin, pliable purplish shoots that grows into a 3 to 5 metre bush in the wild, but gardens almost only get its dense,…
Photinia × fraseri 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
An evergreen shrub for hedges and specimens whose new shoots emerge bright red and mature to glossy dark green; trimming in spring and summer brings…
Aronia arbutifolia 2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
An upright, slender shrub grown for its flaming red autumn foliage and for the glossy red berries that stay on the stems well into winter; white,…
Cornus sericea 2.5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A vigorous, multi-stemmed shrub grown for its winter stems: bright red in the species, yellow-green in the widely sold 'Flaviramea', while the dwarf…
Fargesia robusta 3.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A clump-forming bamboo that does not run: the clump only thickens slowly and stays where you plant it, so it needs no rhizome barrier. It is one of…
Juniperus scopulorum 4 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Rocky Mountain juniper is sold as narrow, columnar, blue-green or silver-blue forms (Blue Arrow, Skyrocket): in ten years they reach roughly four…
Salix rosmarinifolia 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A fine-textured, airy willow shrub with narrow, rosemary-like grey-green leaves that are silvery and downy beneath, and small catkins in spring that…
Hibiscus syriacus 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
An upright, vase-shaped deciduous shrub that carries large, hollyhock-like flowers from midsummer into autumn, when most shrubs have finished. It…
Fargesia rufa 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A clump-forming bamboo that does not run, so you can plant it without a root barrier: the clump widens slowly but never wanders through the garden. It…
Potentilla fruticosa 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A dense, rounded little deciduous shrub that flowers almost without a break from late spring until the first frosts. It is undemanding and copes…
Rosa Shrub Group 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A large, varied group of roses that grow into big, loose bushes; modern shrub roses and English roses belong here. Use them as specimens, at the…
Caragana arborescens 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An extremely cold-hardy and drought-tolerant upright large shrub or small tree that copes where others give up: on poor, sandy or limy soil in…
Deutzia gracilis 1 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A low, tidy deciduous shrub with arching stems that is almost hidden under pure white, lightly scented flower clusters in late spring. It suits the…
Amelanchier lamarckii 6 m × 6 m after 10 years
This airy small tree or multi-stemmed shrub brings white spring blossom, edible summer fruit and bright autumn colour. It suits specimen planting,…
Diervilla sessilifolia 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, tough deciduous shrub that spreads slowly by suckers and grows in almost any soil, taking drought and even dry shade under trees, so it is…
Euonymus europaeus 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An undemanding large shrub or small tree with green twigs whose main season is autumn: the leaves turn red and purple, and the pink capsules split…
Weigela florida 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An easy, dependable deciduous shrub that is covered in funnel-shaped pink, red or white flowers in late spring and early summer, often with a…
Thuja plicata 5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A fast-growing evergreen with glossy dark green, scale-like foliage that smells of pineapple when crushed. For hedges it is mostly planted as the…
Ligustrum vulgare 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Wild privet is a native, undemanding and very drought-tolerant shrub and the classic material for a clipped hedge: it grows fast, takes any amount…
Berberis julianae 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense evergreen barberry with glossy spiny-edged leaves and three-pronged thorns 2 to 4 cm long: clipped or left free it makes a practically…
Satureja montana 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, woody-based, semi-evergreen herb with glossy, narrow, peppery-scented leaves that you can use fresh or dried in the kitchen. From midsummer its…
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