Hedging

Formal hedges are easy to grow, and respond well to regular clipping. We recommend the following plants for hedging:

Box: an evergreen which needs trimming twice a year. It's best to cut it after a shower of rain, never when it's dry

Bush honeysuckle: tiny glossy evergreen leaves which is good for small gardens. Use shears for cutting, and trim once a month during the growing season

Common beech: the best deciduous hedge on well-drained soils, retaining foliage all year

Common hornbeam: though deciduous, most of the rusty-brown leaves are retained through the winter on clipped hedges

Holly: excellent evergreen hedge. It grows slowly, but is long lived. Trim once a year in late summer

Lawson cypress: a huge range of evergreen shapes and colours

Privet: its green, golden and variegated forms are evergreen except in the worst winters. Trim once a month during the growing season

Yew: ideal, long-lived evergreen hedge, well suited to topiary. Trim once a year in late summer