Shrub Advice

[itsmschanandlerbong]

Help please! Moved into a property last year and the garden (grass) slopes down towards another house. There is a fence but what can I plant that is easy enough to maintain but would provide some privacy along the line of the fence?

Laurel

Laurel will provide a fast-growing thick hedge, but you will need to cut it regularly as it can grow to 20ft high and take over otherwise.

Weigela
Forsythia
Rhododendron
Camellia
Fatsia
Photinia
Cordyline
Ceanothus
Hebe
Buddleja
Lavatera
Hydrangea

That's what I'd buy 😀

A row of lilacs. Or assorted apple & pear trees - you could choose the root stock to dictate the height.

Or hazel trees.

If you're going to plant something, it might as well be beautiful and/or productive too. All the above will provide homes for birds and bees.

I would have a mixture of what Skillest and Meadowfinch have suggested. All such lovely plants; how wide is the garden?

I like @Skillest suggestions.

I'd add Choisya and maybe Eonymus. They are very much shove it in and leave it alone plants (or have been in my garden)

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions, I will get researching!

For privacy, do you want evergreens? If so, I like viburnum tinus (it takes well to pruning), Portuguese laurel (cherry laurel is a bit naff), maybe a smooth-leafed self-fertile holly such as J C van Tol (which the birds will love), maybe osmanthus (lovely scent). If deciduous, I'd always include some fruit trees or perhaps a crabapple, for the beautiful blossom. Crabs are typically fairly compact and easy to manage; if you really need it shrub-sized you could select a dwarfing one.

The issue with rhododendrons and camellias (mentioned above) would be they need ericaceous soil; you also need to choose things by sun/shade/orientation. No point trying to grow a ceanothus if it's a north-facing shaded space!

Laurel has no redeeming qualities as far as I'm concerned, but people plant it with depressing regularity.