need hedge (mainly for privacy) - alternatives to conifers?

[ErnestTheBavarian]

Everyone seems to have conifers. Is this cos they are easy/the best thing/cheap?

Are there any good (cheap) alternatives) preferably something not too deep, as the stretch of garden is only 3 m wide & don't want to take up a 3rd of it with a chunky hedge.

Someone suggested beech, but that's not evergreen, not sure how I feel about that (ie am unsure:) ),

incidentally our council gave us a notice saying that conifers and laurels aren't allowed as they are not native plants, yet every second garden has a conifer hedge. The gardener is pushing us towards the conifers (I think he has a cheap job lot) and says the council won't/can't say anything as everyone has them, including our neighbours.

Thoughts please for novice?

Oh, I would like it to be 2 m high (max. allowed )

We have holly - there are different sorts, so you should be able to find some which are not too wide. But if width is a major issue, then a fence will always be neater - you could put a trellis up the inside if you want greenery.

we will have a fence, but it's not allowed to be solid, so either metel mesh (giant chicken wire or wooden picket fence type thing) and it can only be max of 1.2m, so we need a hedge as well as the fence as that's allowed to be up to 2 m.

Trellis now allowed as counts as fence I think.

Beech isn't evergreen, you're right, but it does tend to retain its leaves over the winter in their dry state, i.e. golden brown and rustly and pretty effective as a privacy screen. If it was only the thought of bare branches that was putting you off, try image googling examples of beech hedges in winter and see what you think.

I don't recommend a conifer hedge, it needs a lot of trimming and is very thirsty.
Portuguese laurel is much nicer than straight laurel, slower growing and smarter looking (also evergreen).
Holly is also smart and the berries are nice at this time of year.

Have a look here for options, maybe call them for some advice?

www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/Evergreen-Trees-Conifers?osCsid=0488a65689c45b583cabac9034b0ef03

wow, thanks for suggestions. After looking it up I now see there are a few beech hedges here. In 2 minds about it. Think and erring towards really thick screening, holly sounds interesting, never thought of that as a hedge. Laurel is not allowed as not native. Wonder if holly counts? Appreciate any comments putting me off conifers as it's the really easy option so tempting, but need encouraging to steer away!

Holly is native yes, Ilex aquifolium is anyway.
I dont really understand how the council can stipulate that you have a native hedge if there as so many conifer hedges all around you, conifers are not native?

Holly is lovely and a great wildlife bonus as long as you get female bushes (for the berries). But it is quite slow growing and would take quite a few years to grow 2m high.

Escallonia is also a possibility with nice flowers for bees, as is Berberis which is available in various leaf colours plus flowers and berries in some varieties. Both would generally keep 'most' of their leaves over winter I think.

For different and native conifer try Yew.

Can recommend Ashridge Trees

Yes Yew is the best native hedge IMO, though the berries are toxic which may be an issue if you have small DCs or pets.

yes - sorry I forgot to mention that - though wiki says that the foliage is the biggest risk and the berries and wood are not toxic

Beech isn't evergreen, but holds onto its leaves for much of the winter, and can be grown quite densely. There's a road near here which is completely lined on both sides with beech and it looks great all year round - lovely green in spring, great autumn colour too.

Some companies do native hedge packs, with a mixture of hedgerow species - hawthorn, field maple, dog rose etc. For example here - lots of other native options on the same website.

We have yew, recently replanted. It looks nice. Our garden is narrow too and it's dense without being bushy. Wasn't cheap though. Ours are about 1.6m high. Apparently it won't get berries if kept trimmed back.

I'd notice they've planted lots of yew bushes in the park next to our house recently so wasn't overly concerned about the toxic nature of it (although we are in Switzerland with the usual "well it'll be your own fault if you eat the berries/fall down that great hole in the road/ electrocute yourself on those bare wires sticking out of the wall/burn yourself with fireworks" attitude)

We got fabulous laurel trees (sub species causcausnia) which are like lollipop trees, rather than bushes. We planted them just over a metre apart, but the lollipop bits are starting to grow together. So it gives us privacy higher up, yet the bare trunks don't intrude too much into our smallish garden. We have a wall behind the trunks.

The good thing about this is that because they are individual trees, they don't count as hedging, so no need to comply with the 2 metre rule.

They are also evergreen.

Does the edict from the council about native species refer only to hedges or also to trees?

this is the variety we got, but in tree format

This site has lots of trees. Both the Viburnum ones look good (towards the bottom of the page).

We've gone for trees too as not covered by High Hedge Act - we need privacy higher up as totally overlooked by neighbours bedroom windows. We also have a small garden so couldn't have anything which spreads.

We've gone for small garden trees - Robinia and several varieties of Prunus (flowering cherry). Can't wait for them to grow as I don't feel remotely comfortable in my garden!

Agree conifers are dominating and very thirsty but afaik Leylandii are the only conifers that councils generally object to?

1percent - We got our trees 2 years ago, and they are doing really well. The people who planted them gave us some good tips to care for them:

Mulch with manure around the base of each tree spring and autumn.
From April, water each tree with a 3 gallon bucket 2-3 times a week, more when it is very warm. We put down a soaker hose on a timer, and put it on for about an hour each time.

It seems excessive, but good watering will speed up growth!

As you're going to have the mesh fence anyway, what about growing ivy up it?

It'll be dense, evergreen and hardly take up any space.

Thanks for the tips BeryStreep - I will also be talking to them daily to speed up growth believe me

We've also gone for 7ft fence and planted Clematis Armandii which is fast growing and evergreen. You could grow something like this to the height of your fence OP and then put up some wires to grow climbers even higher.