Evergreen flowering hedges for privacy

[Pinkfizzed]

Hello, I am looking for an evergreen flowering hedge which will be dense enough to screen my front garden and front of house in London. It's 2 sides of about 3m each. Bonus points to also being able to act as a wind break. Aspect is south and east facing and gets plenty of sun. Need it to grow about 1 to 1.5m high as quickly as possible.

I am looking at viburnum and escallonia. open to suggestions. Wouldn't want something very thorny. Is there a hedging center near London from where I can order larger / mature shrubs or hedge screens?

Thank you so much for your advice for a complete novice.

Euonymus has a number of nice varieties. IIRC it flowers but they are white and small.
https://www.hedgingplantsdirect.co.uk/hedging-plants/euonymus-hedging

Lonicera Nitidia (poor man’s box) is not flowering but is a lovely yellow colour. We replanted a 30 year old Berberis hedge (oh so thorny) with it just over two years ago and it has formed a lovely thick hedge.

Is there a hedging center near London from where I can order larger / mature shrubs or hedge screens? General wisdom is that smaller plants will establish better and overtake bigger plants. I’d buy on-line from a nursery that raises its own plants.

Lonicera Nitidia (poor man’s box) is not flowering but is a lovely yellow colour. Only if it’s a yellow variety. The species is green. It’s a shrubby honeysuckle, so it does flower, and has berries, but probably not if you’re repeatedly trimming it.

Don’t forget the traditional hedging plant, privet.

I like privet, lovely white flowers. Otherwise pittosporum is a great hedge, but no flowers.

Can I suggest you have a look at bare root hedging?
Much cheaper, lots of choice and will establish quickly
Buy a few extra and pot them up as easy replacements in case of any failures.

Thank you for suggestions. I wouldn't plant privet since believe berries and leaves poisonous to humans. I have children but no pets.

I ideally need something that comes in a 60 to 80cm odd height (or taller) and grows quickly, quite dense since one of the objectives is to provide screening. Would such semi grown shrubs come I'm a 'bare root hedging' option?

I like the thought of some visual interest in winter, hence viburnum. My (very occasional) gardener was pushing photinia but I don't like the look of that as much. I loved the look of escallonia but understand it is slow growing vs others. I would also not prefer thorny hedge shrubs such as blackthorn, pyracantha, gorse.
Any other considerations between viburnum and escallonia? Would these grow pretty dense? My gardener thinks I will need about 20 to 25 - in a single row along the walls (in total for a 6m border).

We have Viburnum tinus "Eve Price" We have kept them small and widely spaced because we wanted a boundary that would grow into a hedge in time, rather than a fast growing hedge. We put gravel and creeping thyme underneath to keep the weeds down.

They have been in about 6 years and are about waist height and definitely want to be a hedge, and the thyme has done its work now.

@Melroses thank you. Do you remember how tall / dense they were when you planted and did you prune them to limit growth ie height? If yours are waist high now, then I'm not sure if this is the right choice for me. I read they grow around 40cm or more a year so had hoped would become a waist high hedge in 2 to 3 years if I start with 80cm high shrubs.

They were probably about a foot tall? when we planted and they are nearly 1m apart. We tried trimming them back into a ball each year, but we have had to concede defeat and treat them as a hedge now. I am sure they will grow tall much more quickly if you let them grow a bit.

We replaced a half dead 30yo leylandii hedge which had become hard work to manage so after that experience we wanted something that we could keep smaller and cut back hard if necessary. The winter flowers were a big attraction.

This is my favourite website for fantasy hedge growing. www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/all-hedges 😁

Would also add that it probably grows faster in wetter places - our garden is very dry.

It does flower, it's just that people don't notice them because they are only little. Lonicera pileata has flowers too, which are followed by the most amazing slightly translucent mauve berries. They glow in the sun.

I wouldn't plant privet since believe berries and leaves poisonous to humans. Well, you won’t want Euonymus either, or Lonicera