Hedge for tiny city front garden

[veneeroftheyear]

We are finally digging up some of the paving in our front garden to plant a hedge. Our front garden is tiny - just room for the bins and a few pots really. I understand why people choose privet as it gives privacy, is evergreen and can be easily shaped but I'd like something s bit more interesting. Can anyone inspire me?

I mean it totally depends on what you want out of a hedge and how small the garden is. I did say in my post it would reach about 2 feet or could be planted above a wall. Have you really never seen this? Beautifully fragrant way of gently marking a boundary. There are loads of guides on hedging lavenders, which varieties work best etc.

I agree if you’re after something Prince Charming can fight through to rescue a somnolent princess it’s not the right choice but I didn’t see ‘must protect occupants from marriage-oriented royals’ anywhere in the OP. 🤣 Small garden implied small solution that would barely need pruning.

Bay would be lovely wouldn't it. The only thing that put me off slightly is that I have a bay in a pot that suddenly lost all its leaves and had to be cut right down. It did recover eventually but I wonder if that's common. Definitely not common! Bay is as tough as old boots with an immense will to live. I wonder if yours got dried out in its pot?

They may get cut back in the coldest winter, but that hasn’t happened to me in Yorkshire in the last 30 years.

TBF one of our neighbours has a lavendar hedge inside a small wooden fence so the lavender peeks through. The total thing is only about 1-2 feet high but it really does look very pretty through the summer, especially in flower.

Just on the subject of lavender - you can standardise them (or buy standards), whose trunks would sit behind the wall, if you wanted? I think it would be a bit faffy as I am not a huge fan of the maintenance of clipped lavender, but for some people it grows like a weed.

Pop 3 bays in lollipops for the height and 2 sarcococca in between for the scent.

Salvia Amistad makes a beautiful hedge, l planted mine this spring and now literally 5 ft tall and still in full flower. I bought them from J R Parkers at a very reasonable price, l grow lots of Salvias and they always come back, l don't lose any in the winter.
My salvias are out the front, l have had so many people asking me about them and the bees love them too. Really easy plants to grow and look after, but obviously not evergreen. They die back in winter. Evergreen hedges are good for privacy but can look abit boring.
l also have a hedge of old fashioned roses out the back, that is a joy to behold when in full bloom, it took a while to get going and roses are greedy plants, need more attention, but worth it in my opinion.

I’ve got various hedges in different places around the garden. The Hawthorn and Blackthorn are absolutely teeming with birds. The Bay and Laurel give very good and dense cover - I’ve not had a huge problem with leaf drop from the Bay but it has happened a couple of times, they recover very quickly. I’ve got Privet which I quite like as it can be trimmed very neatly and gives quite a structured look that you can’t really get from the others. Same with the Yew, can be really nicely trimmed for a neat look. And, yes, as you mentioned, I’ve lost all the Box to caterpillar - it can be treated but seriously I didn’t think it was worth it and I pulled it up and burnt it, shame because it makes a very good decorative hedge. But something a bit more unusual, I’ve managed to make a pretty successful, and beautiful, hedge out of various colour hibiscus. Of course not evergreen though, and maybe not enough sun if behind a wall. Maybe a mix of hedging would work?

We built up a second wall and filled it in so could put lavender and other plants (box but it was eaten alive) in at a higher level.
It made it easier to keep the space behind clear and swept but also meant we could buy smaller plants.