My garden has hedges for borders

[Bewarethejubjubbird]

Just that really. My garden has hedges for borders and I'm not sure how to go about planting around hedges. It's a new build that backs on to fields. I'd like a modern take on a country garden and it will take me a few years to get to what I imagine in my head but I don't know where to put the flowers around the hedges.

Any pictures of gardens with hedges for borders would be appreciated.

Leave yourself a gap between your borders and hedges, for ease of cutting. We didn't do this and have to manoeuvre between the plants and hedge to cut it, it's difficult to clear up the trimmings, and if it doesn't get done your plants get swamped. Much regret we didn't do this.

If you have a gap or path, as suggested by FizzingAda, it also means that you can tend the border from the back (as well as the front) so you can make it deeper (because you can reach twice as far).
It also means that your plants are that bit further away from competitive hedge-roots.

Any pictures of gardens with hedges for borders would be appreciated.
My mind immediately goes to National Trust gardens but I'm guessing that you are not on that scale!
I wouldn't bother trying to do a border on the shady side of a hedge; put all your effort into the sunny borders. Maybe have no borders (or only token groundcover / underplanting) on the shady side and have a super-depth border on the sunny side.

You don't have to put borders in front of hedges, you can keep a decent path there to cut the hedge and put beds in a good metre in from the hedge.

Just cut out a section of the lawn, dig in some organic material [compost or bought in well rotted manure] and plant into that. Edge it with old bricks or anything you can get your hands on [I use old roofing tiles are there are tons of them going free where I am in France. I used old bricks in the UK as we had loads in the garden.]

Get some obelisks in for some height and pop some sweet peas around them. Or any other climbing plants can go in.

I'd start with small borders and try some different things whilst you are working out where you want your paths etc to go.

There are some fabulous plants you could use on the shady side - ferns, hydrangeas, Hellebores, primroses, hostas, astrantias euphorbia - you could make a woodland looking garden there that would be quite magical.

If you look on Pinterest for country garden or English garden or borders then you’ll see lots of pics. Most of them have hedges.

I don’t know what you mean by it having hedges for borders. The hedge (or fence) is one bit and then you put a border next to that. Maybe share a picture in case there’s something I’m missing?

It depends on how big the garden is. If there is no choice but to put the borders right in front of the hedge due to size, I would consider raised beds with a membrane to stop the hedge's roots from going into the soil. That way your plants have a chance to establish without root competition.

I don’t know what you mean by it having hedges for borders.
Does OP mean hedges as boundaries / backdrops?
Meanwhile, we're all talking about borders to mean flower-borders.

Thinking more about this.........the first thing you should do is look into how big your hedges are likely to get. You need to know what type of plants your hedge is made up of and how tall and wide they will get.

I'm a gardener and one of the things I see very often is that people have underestimated how wide their hedges will grow. Keeping on top of the height of a hedge is often easier than containing its width. Allow for the width of your grown hedge before planting other plants. Also, bear in mind that cutting into the face of conifer hedges to keep them narrow will often leave bald, brown patches that will never regrow.

Like @senua said, I have hedges as boundaries instead of fences or hedges. My garden is small and unusually shaped, it wraps around the house. I'll take some photos in a bit to show what I mean.

We have a hedge as our back boundary, it's amazing for wildlife but it's a nightmare for gardening. Brambles, roots and Ivy coming out of it left right and centre. We don't have flower beds....although we also have dreadful clay soil too and not a lot of space. I would recommend raised beds or planters instead.

I love these ideas that have been shared, particularly for the woodland planting on the shady side from @Dapbag and the cut out section of lawn idea from @AlisonDonut . I plan on doing that when the children grow up a little...I just want to preserve a little lawn for their play over the next few years. It sounds absolutely beautiful.

And thank you to those who have shared ideas around the practicality of planting close to the hedges. I will bear this in mind and be careful!

Thanks @WonderingWanda

I am leaning towards this idea a bit.....lots of pots for interest and some raised beds towards the patio.....let the hedges be what they are (copperbeech, holly, hawthorn with a rogue apple tree planted in).....they back straight on to an ancient ridge and furrow field and we are lucky that there is plenty of wildlife to watch x

weve got a 100 year old privet hedge as the boundar to our, small courtyard, garden.

Ive got a border that’s about2 foot wide under the hedge and planted lots of dry shade to,erant plants and spring bulbs and some hellebores. I’ve put euphorbia right under the g edge that is doing well. I have to water in summer as it gets very dry. It also has to withstand being stood on by the hedge guy when he’s cutting it, I get it cut back fairly severely.

think about access for cutting and how wide it will grow.

then there’s a gap and then a summer border where I have more flowery stuff. I’ve used a lot of white , pale, lime green and red colours to stand out against the hedge as it can suck the light out.

I’ve planted a couple of clematis through the hedge too that done mind being clipped.

Add obelisks and small trees, large shrubs for height.

I love watching the birds in the hedge.

Yes clematis.....I also thought one of those climbing hydrangea might enjoy the higher bits of hawthorn....

@BarrelOfOtters thanks for your input
Love the username and your garden sounds wonderful!

@BarrelOfOtters I'm thinking lots of spring bulbs....I also wondered about hardy geraniums.

I'll take a photo shortly

I think if you can water it if it's right up to the hedge the bulbs and geraniums would do well. Just pick stuff that can tolerate dry. I mulch the borders too as recommended above.

Good luck with it.

This is one corner of the garden

I think:
you shouldn't have your hedges too high - it would obscure that fabulous view
lower hedges also means less shade on your flowers
I would put in an 'opening' e.g. a false gate (the iconic 5-bar gate for the country look) so it seems as if the land beyond is part of your garden. Research the concept of a 'borrowed view'.
could the trampoline go somewhere else, not in the middle of your view.

Thanks Senua....yes the trampoline could be moved.

We have been debating the use of a gate into the field too.

Definitely going to keep hedges low. I've been so used to fenced gardens that I don't know ehat to do in this one but ideas are coming together.

A long term plan and not for the faint hearted - the hedge to the field is in poor condition, adding in some new plants then laying the hedge (Google laying a hedge) would look fab and potentially maintain a part of your regional heritage.

The shape of the branches would then be the decorative feature through winter. I'd then put the flowering border next to the mini wall instead.

The hedge to the field has been laid in the past, hasn’t it?

I agree with SleepyHedgehog's idea. I'll link (again!) to a video that I shared recently. The point of the video is to show that you shouldn't allow the eye to go straight to the far edge of the property, no matter how lovely the view. You need something to slow down the eye, to appreciate the whole garden. As SH says, you need a feature nearer the house / terrace.
Where does the sun strike? - I can't tell from that photo.

We have laurel hedging planted long before we moved in to form the boundary of our front garden (a slightly unusual set up). We don’t have the great view that you have in either back or front garden. We have used whisky barrels to plant various plants, bulbs and seasonal flowers to add some colour as found plants suffered when placed too close to laurel. The birds love the hedging - we also have lilac, holly, flowering currant bushes forming the rest of the boundary.
that view is just crying out for a bench to sit out in the evening admiring the view

I’d be thinking about keeping the more tamed gardening/flower beds etc close to the house and letting it all get more natural/wilder as you get to the hedge. I wouldnt put a border up against the hedge at all - although I might put in a wide strip of bulbs there and let the grass grow longer with paths through (subject to trampoline/football etc activity). I’d have the flower beds up against the edges of the patio, and have them good and deep. How high is the drop down from patio to grass?

For borders read boundaries