Hedge bushes, shrubs, and trees add more than just beauty to gardens. Natural living privacy screens are created by many varieties of evergreen hedge shrubs, which block noise, wind, and spying eyes. When the hedge blooms, other types of deciduous flowering hedge plants may provide beautiful colors and fragrances. To achieve striking curb appeal, you can also grow hedge plants along walls, fences, or even in the front of your home.
The Best Hedging Plants
Some of the best plants for hedges are:
- Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)—When they bloom, these bushy shrubs produce stunning, showy bouquets that are ideal as hedging plants. Summer privacy screens are an excellent choice.
- American Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’)—For dense privacy hedging, this arborvitae cultivar is a popular evergreen conifer. Thujas are popular in home gardens because of their delicate foliage and upright, compact growth.
- Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)—This is a commonly used security and privacy hedge. Holly plants have lustrous, spiky-leafed leaves that are evergreen. Summer blooming adds color to yards for much of the year, with red berries being produced in the winter.
- European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)—Beech trees are informal hedges that may be trimmed into formal hedges in a hurry. In the autumn, the green foliage gives way to stunning copper and red hues.
- Hedge Maple (Acer campestre)—This trendy hedging tree has a fast growth rate and blooms in pink. These hedge bushes may be used to create dramatic, informal box-shaped hedges when grown alongside other hedge bushes.
The Best Evergreen Hedging Plants (With Pictures and Names)
During the year, live privacy screens are provided by evergreen hedges. Since they have delicate, thick leaves that make for natural border barriers in your yard, several conifers are excellent options. Moreover, you can cut fast-growing broadleaf evergreen shrubs into formal hedgerows to create instant hedges.
Here’s a list of the finest hedge plants that may be grown in your yard and front porch.
Boxwood Hedge Plant (Buxus sempervirens)
Evergreen boxwood plants and its tiny leaves make it ideal for trimmed, formal hedges in your yard or beside your home. Pruning and shaping these hedge bushes are simple. They’re also ideal for year-round privacy screens, as their common name suggests.
Hedges may grow up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall, depending on the cultivar. For a low hedge that is 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 1 meter) tall, choose the slow-growing, evergreen shrub. If you want to boost front yard curb appeal, boxwood shrubs are simple to modify.
American Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’) — Evergreen Hedge
It’s one of the greatest evergreen trees for privacy, with photos of thuja ’emerald green’ ((‘Smaragd’). It’s also one of the most stunning columnar tree varieties. Arbourvitae species are some of the best arbor hedge options for garden Landscapes. A conical evergreen tree with upright growth, the Smaragd is also known as Emerald Green. Without any upkeep, these hedge trees maintain their form. Regular pruning helps to keep the plant at a manageable height of up to 14 feet (4 meters).
To keep our wind, noise, and snooping neighbors at bay, grow arborvitae plants as a natural privacy barrier in backyards. Alternatively, to boost your home’s curb appeal, you can put a specimen tree in front of your house. Other suitable hedging plants include the following:
- Thuja standishii x plicata ‘Green Giant’—Excellent for privacy screens or evergreen hedges, this fast-growing conical-shaped tree.
- Thuja occidentalis ‘Filips Magic Moment’—Bright, informal hedgerows are perfect for this golden-yellow evergreen tree with its upright, dense, columnar growth.
Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
The lovely white flowers and broad leafy foliage of cherry laurel make it a excellent fast growing evergreen shrub for privacy hedges. The dense, bushy growth habit of cherry laurel hedge plants makes them ideal for screening or windbreaking.
If you want a tall informal hedge that blooms in the summer, plant it in your yard in full sun. The hedging shrub grows to a height of 15 to 30 feet (4 to 12 meters). Maintaining the height you desire will benefit from regular pruning.
Holly Hedge Bushes (Ilex)
If you want a evergreen hedge in your front or back yard, choose low-maintenance Holly bushes. The jagged, stiff leaves of most holly species keep animals and intruders at bay. For narrow hedgerows, holly bushes have a neat, compact growth. If you want a dazzling prickly hedge in your yard, you can add variegated leaves to some holly bushes.
Ilex plants are suitable for the following uses:
- Alaska Holly (Ilex aquifolium ‘Alaska’)
- Dragon Lady Holly (Ilex × aquipernyi ‘Meschick’)
- Sky Pencil Holly (Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’)
- Dwarf Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana’)
Californian Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium)
If you want a fast-growing privacy hedge, choose privet shrubs. Privet plants’ thick, fast-growing foliage is one of the reasons why they are some of the greatest hedge bushes. These clipped hedges, whether formal or informal, need regular trimming throughout the growing season to keep their form.
These towering hedge plants may reach a height of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters). Another popular species for privacy screening is the common privet (Ligustrum vulgare).
Japanese Spindle (Euonymus japonicus)
Japanese spindle hedges may be evergreen or deciduous, depending on the climate. They have thick foliage that makes them ideal for privacy hedges. Their bright, bushy hedge is created by their yellow and green or white and green variegated dense foliage.
These tiny shrub-like trees are best suited for low ornamental or formal hedges, since they only grow a few feet tall. For full sun, edging plants, or climbers up a wall or fence, you can grow Japanese spindle plants as ground cover.
Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Canadian Hemlock trees are fast-growing, densely packed plants that thrive in both partial shade and full sun. Due to their thick growth, these spectacular trees can create a privacy screen when planted side by side in a row. You may train the evergreen trees to develop as a magnificent formal hedge by cutting them correctly.
Juniper Hedge Plants (Juniperus)
To develop living privacy screens, cut several medium-sized and low-growing junipers. The prickle of most juniper needles makes them difficult to grasp. When they are growing in a row, the heavy foliage acts as a natural barrier to block out noise and provide a windbreak.
The Best Deciduous Hedging Plants (With Pictures and Names)
In the fall and winter, deciduous hedge bushes and shrubs lose their leaves. As a result, they don’t provide the same level of year-round privacy as evergreen hedges. Many homeowners, however, prefer deciduous hedges for their aesthetic appeal. While still providing some seclusion and insulation over the winter, deciduous blooming hedges are more casual than evergreen ones.
Roses for Hedging Plants
Rose bushes have prickly stems, lush spring and summer foliage, lovely blooms, and a wonderful fragrance, making them ideal for hedging in your garden. To provide privacy to your front or rear yard, you can grow rose hedge bushes along the edges. You’ll need to trim rose bushes during the first year to promote bushy growth and create a privacy screen. Plant two rows of rose bushes side by side to create a thicker rose hedge.
Glossy Abelia (Abelia × grandiflora)
The glossy abelia’s flowers enhance the appeal and beauty of your hedge or fence line, while the dense foliage adds depth. This is a full-sun hedge that grows as a semi-evergreen. With clusters of white, bell-shaped blooms that emit a lovely fragrance, the hedge blooms from late spring to autumn.
For front or rear yards, grow glossy abelia bushes as an informal hedge. They may also be used as a single specimen shrub or planted along a fence line. The hedge stretches to a height of 3 to 6 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters).
Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
If you want a low-growing, colorful border hedge, the Japanese barberry is an superb option. Its appealing brilliant leaves add a nice touch to your living fence. A front or back garden with vibrant red, yellow, or purple leaves stands out. Hedges are adapted to some Japanese barberry cultivars. In addition, variegated cultivars are available to make dazzling casual hedges.
Sweet Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius)
Sweet mock orange blossoms make an attractive flowering hedge, and it’s also known as English dogwood. The upright growth of the hard, woody branches produces dark-green oval leaves and lovely white blooms. The hedgerow blooms, releasing fragrant summer scents that fill gardens.
Sweet mock orange trees may be used as a garden hedge or a summer privacy screen in the yards. The shrub may be used as a specimen plant on its own. The bushy shrub may grow to be up to 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall.
Hedge Maple (Acer campestre)
In the autumn, choose maple for a fast-growing hedge with yellow leaves that will form a dense, broadleaf barrier. To create boxed-hedgerows between 3 and 16 feet (1 and 5 meters) tall, the fast-growing hedging plant grows to a medium size. Hedge maples create great hiding spaces during the spring and summer. Before dropping, their foliage becomes a stunning brilliant yellow color.
Rock Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis)
Cotoneaster horizontalis var. Cotoneaster This deciduous shrub has a horizontal spreading growth habit, as its scientific name suggests. The flowering shrub has thick stems that make a nice low-growing hedgerow or screening plant. Low-maintenance border hedges, in which high growth isn’t required, are ideal for this type of hedge. Between 2 and 3 feet (0.6 and 1 m) tall, rock cotoneaster Late in the spring, tiny white blossoms appear, and in the autumn, bright crimson berries appear.
Korean Lilac (Syringa meyeri)
Korean lilac blooms in the fall, producing gorgeous foliage. The Syringa genus includes the Korean lilac, which is a hedging plant. The abundance of lilac flowers produced by the hedge bush’s dark green leaves contrast. In the fall, Korean lilac leaves turn a vivid crimson-bronze, giving its environment a cheerful tone. Korean lilacs may be grown in the yard as an informal blossoming hedge, or they may be pruned into a formal hedge.
European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
The European beech may be trimmed to control the hedge’s height. Even in winter, this plant may be trimmed as a hedge to make attractive privacy screens. To create a formal hedge, the European beech needs extensive pruning because it is a big tree. You may, however, produce a magnificent formal hedge in whatever form you want.
Dark green leaves turn to varied hues throughout the season on the leafy hedge. The European beech retains its bronze leaves throughout the winter, despite being a deciduous hedge. In the winter months, this shrubby plant serves as a privacy screen.
Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
In the fall, grow arrowwood viburnum hedge plants with their gorgeous crimson leaves. The ‘Blue Muffin,’ one of the best arrowwood cultivars, has glossy green leaves and clusters of white flowers in the summer. In the summer, blue berries emerge, followed by blue berries in late summer and fall. As lovely border shrubs, blooming hedges, or private screens, grow arrowwood trees.
Common Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
The conventional hornbeam may be trimmed to form a formal dense privacy barrier if you desire. In garden landscapes, the hornbeam tree is a birch family member and is frequently seen. This hedging tree provides good privacy by virtue of its average growth and full foliage.
Carpinus betulus may be grown as an easy-to-care-for hedge at heights of 3 to 16 feet (1 to 5 meters). Copper-colored leaves in the fall make hornbeam hedges comparable to beech hedging. In the winter, despite the fact that it is a deciduous hedge, it provides wind, noise, and intrusion protection.
Spirea Backyard Hedges
Most spirea bushes are attractive, low-maintenance hedging plants. Because of the orange, red, and yellow leaves, the hedges are gleaming and vibrant. Beautiful sprays of flower clusters bloom on the border hedge in the summer, making it more than just the leaves that make it appealing.
Plant as a specimen tree in a front yard to improve the appearance of your house, or plant as a low-growing hedge up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. Full sun is ideal for these boundary hedges.
Forsythia
Plants from this genus of medium-sized deciduous shrubs make lovely, bright border hedges. Forsythia is a tough species that makes an excellent choice. The colorful yellow spring blooms of forsythia hedges are appealing in backyards, especially when combined with the foliage.
As a flowering hedge, mixed border, or specimen plant, you may grow Forsythia shrubs. These hedging bushes can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) depending on the cultivar. Grow Forsythia shrubs with other hedging plants to create a year-long flowering privacy screen.
Hydrangea Hedge Plants
Hydrangeas are simple to care for and may generate an attractive hedge. Large globular or cone-shaped clusters of flowers are produced by the round hydrangea bushes. In the summer, they bloom as a blooming hedge, giving you plenty of solitude while brightening your garden with color and fragrance.
The spectacular blooming hedgerow plants hydrangeas are part of a variety of species. Pick between blue, lilac, white, or pink dome-shaped flowerheads from bushy hedges. Instead, choose other bushes with cones of varied pastel colors.
Flowering Quince Hedges (Chaenomeles)
Quince blossoming shrubs are great for informal hedges or colorful boundaries, as seen in this shot of Chaenomeles x superba “Mandarin.” Only 4 feet (1.2 m) high can Quinces bushes from the species Chaenomeles japonica and Chaenomeles x superba grow.
From late winter until early spring, the flowering hedges produce colorful, fragrant flowers. Quince hedges are also wonderful security barriers in your yard because of their prickly branches. In your front or backyard, you can alternatively grow quince trees as a bordering tree or a single specimen tree.
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) Hedge Bushes
The Rose of Sharon is a lovely plant for creating flowering hedges in a garden because it has the ability to bend. They may reach up to 8–12 feet (2.4–3.6 meters) tall without trimming, but you may train the lovely shrub to stay at around 5 feet (1.5 meters) as a lovely hedge.
The bushy hedge blooms with huge, conspicuous trumpet-shaped blossoms when it is in full bloom. To create a lovely privacy screen or to maintain a formal hedge, plant Rose of Sharon bushes in a line.