Replanting a hedge

[FusionChefGeoff]

We are finally ripping out a half dead monstrous conifer hedge on the front of our drive. I'm slowly building a border behind it and can't wait to release the light onto the area when the hedge is gone!!

However, we do need to replace it with something 'light' to mark our boundary and to satisfy DH's requirement for privacy but it's psychological as the angles etc means the hedge doesn't actually stop people looking it - it's our cars / angle of windows that does that!

Personally I'd love something that had a bit of colour over the winter either with berries /
Flowers or foliage??

Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn'.
Red hawthorn.
Pyracantha, the larger cotoneasters usually keep their berries all winter until the birds eat them.
Cornus - some have lovely bright red or yellow stems in winter.

I'd go for a mixed hedge with different heights so you have something interesting happening all year round.

We have done exactly this, we have put a low fence for a clean boundary, and will be planting various shrubs inside the fence, to grow up : so far I have a ceanothus, a hop bush, and a chaste tree waiting to go in. We've ripped out other crappy hedge plants and replaced with Portuguese laurel, white escallonia, and will be adding some cotoneaster lacteus.

We've ordered a gingko tree too. Can't wait!

Not what you asked but some conifers can really suck the joy out of soil - when we had a hedge of leylandi out we dug a tonne of mushroom compost into the soil to give the replacements a good start in life.

Thanks some excellent advice including the need to sort the soil out. Will have a Google of those recommendations. Thank you!!

Photinia Red Robin, evergreen, beautiful for hedging and grows fast.