Hedge that’s not a box hedge?

[manontroppo]

We had planned to put a box hedge in underneath some windows (facing southwest to northwest) but everyone around here has had their box hedges decimated by box hedge moth. Are there good alternatives that aren’t too high maintenance? Thanks!

Do something native like hawthorn? Just needs trimming when it gets too big.

I'd put pryocantha or similar with spikey stems - put off would be burglars/snoopers. Has lovely berries and isn't too fast growing

Portuguese Laurel.
Ideal for smaller areas.

Ilex crenata, Lonicera nitida have similar small leaves. Search the RHS site, they did some trials on alternatives to box

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/blueberry-berrybuxreg/kb0703TM

I second @MereDintofPandiculation with those suggestions. Another idea might be a small-leaved euonymus.

Am following for ideas as our box hedge was also decimated over the summer by moths / blight. Need ours to not grow too high (only about 2ft) as is only a small decorative border at front of house, and wod prefer non spikey! Will check out rhs site.
Won't have anywhere to draw our fake spiderweb at Halloween!

Fake spiderweb is terrible stuff. Traps birds and insects.

I love a hebe hedge. You can get some lovely varieties with interesting all year round colour as well (look up hebe heartbreaker, for example).

Rosemary will also hedge given some time, and if a low hedge is ok lavender can work well too and attracts lots of bees.

I think euonymus makes a great hedge.

Lavender for a low hedge 👍🪻

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn - appreciate the comment - but ours is out for literally one night and is on a low hedge just across the top. Will bear it mind though. Our outdoor fairy lights rest on it at xmas.

Is it just a low ornamental hedge? If so I'd choose lavender.
Just needs a little trim once a year.

Privet

Pittosporum. It comes in lots of varieties including dark purple and white variegated as well as ordinary green. Vigorous, small leaved and takes clipping and shaping very well.

Lavender is more or less an annual in my garden. It should love the light soil and southerly aspect but looks so crap after a couple of years I always end up taking it out.

Privet is very dull, has ugly stems and the flowers smell unpleasant. Oh, and is very prone to honey fungus. We've replaced a lot of it.

We have managed to keep box caterpillars at bay with XenTari. Very effective and our box looks amazing this year after being thoroughly munched last year. You do have to keep on top of it though and keep the stuff on hand to spray at the very first sign of the little blighters.

Privet is very dull, has ugly stems and the flowers smell unpleasant.

Variegated privet isn't that dull, and some people like the smell...
I'd probably go for euonymus, maybe a mix of colours, maybe with some sweet box for the wonderful winter scent.

Cotoneaster can work well against a wall under a window, we had that at our previous house.

RHS list of alternatives to Box which have small leaves and take kindly to clipping

• Berberis microphylla 'Pygmaea'
• Berberis × stenophylla cvs. 'Corallina Compacta', 'Irwinii','Nana'
• Berberis thunbergii ‘Atropurpurea Nana’ AGM
• Euonymus fortunei (various cultivars)
• Hebe cupressoides 'Boughton Dome'
• Ilex crenata
• Lavandula angustifolia cultivars
• Lonicera nitida
• Osmanthus delavayi AGM
• Rosmarinus officinalis
• Santolina chamaecyparissus AGM
• Taxus baccata 'Semperaurea' AGM

I love the smell of privet flowers - like warm honey. You do need to let it get very shaggy though, if you want flowers. And it grows out of control very easily.

I love a beech hedge, slow growing but really thick. You don't see them much anymore 😊

Not evergreen, but beech trees clipped to hedge size don’t drop their dead leaves over winter

Thank you all!

We have quite a lot of lavender already. Beech is a good shout - it looks glorious when it goes coppery...

Loads of good ideas to ponder.

Photinia. Red Robin.

I wouldn't go for Beech, we have a beech hedge and it is always the very last thing to green up in the garden. People think it's dead it's so late to get leaves. They get tall and thick stems too, every so often we have to chainsaw it all back even though we clip it every year. Our neighbours also planted one and for a few years it just looked like a random bunch of sticks had been planted.

Our privet hedges need cutting more but they're easier and look better IMO, they don't get tall in the same way, we also have cotoneaster as well and I like that too - and the bees absolutely love the flowers.

I wouldn't have thought anything that really wants to be a big shrub (privet) let alone a big tree (beech) would be the best bet under a window.

Or even something that wants to be a small shrub. Privet can easily get to 4 or 5 metres high. Whereas something like a hypericum - depending what variety you choose - will stop itself between 30cm and 2m.