I want trees round the edge like this, how?! Anyone good at identifying trees/bushes?

[Mrstumbletap]

Hi all, we are moving soon and will inherit a rectangle shaped garden with just turf.

It's not as big as the one in this picture but I love the idea of having trees/tall bushes all round the edge like this, but all year.

Does anyone know any evergreen trees that are tall and lovely or bushes that grow tall quite quickly?

All I can think if is conifers and laurel. Or Bamboo? Do you have any others or know of any good ones?

Don’t get bamboo nor eucalyptus, both are far too vigorous and you’ll never keep them under control. Stick to native trees and shrubs - hawthorn, hazel, beech, rowan, cherry, elder etc. Better long term and better for wildlife.

We planted a mixed hedge of bare rooted whips of:
Hawthorn, field rose, common pear, amelanchier, cotoneaster, cornelian cherry, wild crab apple, guelder rose, plum cherry, field maple, spindle, dog rose, sea buckthorn, and sweet briar rose, under planted with winter aconite, snowdrops, daffodils, then a wildflower border in front.

Yew is my go to evergreen.

Yy to ceonathus.

And the other thing is not to underestimate the beauty of changing seasons (and the environmental benefit) of planting native deciduous species.

That said, cotoneaster is a non native species which makes good hedging and is evergreen. Also has pretty flowers in summer and berries which are pretty and which birds love in autumn and winter.

I don't have holly in my garden as it's too prickly. It's meant to be good for wildlife though but I've other threes and shrubs which are good for wildlife.

You could look at one of the red stemmed dogwood, like midwinter fire. Nice winter focus.

This is my ceanothus Trewithen Blue, we put it in just over a year ago, this is its second spring here. It came as a 4 or 5 foot sapling, for around £40 I think. Already higher than the 6 foot fence behind it.

I do love yews but they're deadly poisonous - wouldn't put one in a garden, it will be there long after you are and could harm children/pets.

We have a rowan in our current shared garden (flats) - the berries are beautiful and we don't seem to get them rooting in the lawn. The tree is always full of birds when it has berries, and I think they eat them all.

❤ your ceanothus MrsBert!

We went for elaeagnus, although we used it as an above fence hedge. Nice mix of evergreen leaves but you get bright green new growth and some creamy leaves and small flowers/berries

Leucothoe has green and red leaves so a nice contrast

Rhododendron, camellia, mountain laurel, oleander and azaleas could be good for colour as they are flowering evergreens

You can get tall shrubs, they can grow to 6 or 7 feet and be easier to maintain than trees that don't give cover low down. Red camelias are nice, as is holly. I also agree with pp who suggest breaking up the green.

I would add in some ordinary green beech and possibly some hazel as well , for the catkins and the nuts, maybe even a Rowan or two. It will take a few years to get going but will then last for many more years and be a joy. If you plant Laurel, conifers and bamboo you will regret them very quickly and then spend years cutting them back and not enjoying the benefits of seasonal change and wildlife habitat that a native species hedge will provide.

And a sloe!

This is helpful to me aswell as I need to create boundary vegetation for a new garden .

You need to find out what sort of soil you have. Plants like camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons and magnolias generally prefer an acid soil. If your soil is alkaline most of those won't do well, although there are some exceptions. Your local tree nursery will be able to advise you on what grows well in your area

Oh my gosh thank you so much for all this advice, I am going to write all this down, with the names of everything you have suggested and start googling, will also try and find a tree merchant.

Would love to see some pictures of your gardens with names of the trees/bushes.

Ok no to bamboo and possibly consider more fruit trees too.

I currently have a beautiful cherry tree in my garden now (I think that's what it's called) beautiful pink flowers that last about a week or 2, then leaves all summer. I love it, might consider getting one of those for the new garden.

Some have asked about size of the new garden, so I have counted the fence panels, it's 10 long and 6.5 wide. So assuming the panels are 6ft, new garden must be 60 ft X 45ft ish.

So you think some taller trees and then break it up with more bush type structures between? I love the look of the trees/bushes changing over the seasons, apart from winter, what I seem to have now is a beautiful leafy garden and come winter I just have sticks everywhere! I think I picked wrong in this garden, Acers and trees I no longer know the names of, (might photograph them as you may know what they are).

But if I go more bushy, how do I block out the houses I will see at the bottom of my garden without some tall trees? I really want to be in my garden and see nature, I feel like I want to be surrounded by trees and bushes, I want to see greens and purples and colour. Not Bob opposites, washing line......

@Dressingdown1 definitely, I planted lots of rhododendrons in my last house they were a scraggy disaster, never really got big, didn't flower much. Wrong soil completely.

My ceanothus was planted as a £10 foot high garden centre job and 5 years later has to be pruned heavily to keep it under 8 ft. It's an absolute mass of blue flowers.

I also have an amazing Philadelphus which was bought similarly inexpensively and would be over 10ft as well if I didn't keep pruning it down. That doesn't stay green all year.

Re feeling separate from your neighbours - you probably won't be sitting out in the winter and also consider whether you're okay feeling secluded just when you're sitting - if you are only 3 ft off the ground rather than 6 things can hide a lot more.

It also depends how far away you are from the border and the houses following from the border.

E.g. see diagram, attached. If you're close to the hedge and the houses are far away you need less height than if you're far from the hedge and the houses are near.

Ok I have gone through all your replies and written a list of your suggestions. But my gosh it is going to take me a while to google all of these, their potential heights, and if they keep their leaves in winter!

Is anyone really good as knowing which of the following trees will be 'twigs' or 'leafy' in autumn/winter from the following list of suggestions?

Silver birch
Beech
Hawthorne
Holly (evergreen)
Laburnum
Fruit trees. (apple/pear/plum/cherry)
Copper beech and normal beech
Ash
Single and multi stem birch
Hornbeam.
Euporbias
Rosa Glauca
Pittosporum
Hawthorn
Smoke tree (cotinus)
Magnolia
Lilac
Ceanothus Trewithen Blue
Arbutus Unido
Mahonia
Genista Canariensis
Rowan
Hazel common pear
Amelanchier
cotoneaster
cornelian cherry
wild crab apple
guelder rose
plum cherry
field maple
spindle
dog rose
sea buckthorn
sweet briar rose
red stemmed dogwood
elaeagnus
Leucothoe
oleander

shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/small-mixes-and-packs

@Gladioli23 that ceanothus is gorgeous!!

Also true about the neighbours garden and the distance. Here is a picture, I want to see a wall of green or colour or nature along this wall and hopefully break up the roofs that are visible. Bring the border out and just see shapes and nature and have bird feeders and hear tweeting!

There are some lovely suggestions above but please be careful about planting trees that will grow large too close to the house as their large root systems can damage your foundations in the long term (field maple, birch or beech are probably unsuitable for suburban gardens). Also check for poisonous trees - many listed above are dangerous to animals and children (laburnum or oleander for example). Also avoid sloes (blackthorn) as the thorns are really horrid and a danger to pets and children.

I like camelias, genista and forsythia. I put a tiny genista shrub in about ten years ago and it reached its full size - about 2-3 metres - in a few years. It has beautiful yellow flowers in late spring/early summer. Not an evergreen, but acers come in all sizes and colours and are very beautiful.

And I want to avoid this, it's what I have now. I know I may have to have a couple of these to appreciate their full beauty in summer, but I need some leaves in winter, it's too empty otherwise. All I see is my fence panels and it looks rubbish.