Fast growing hedge for clay soils

[CarobyBlobs]

My neighbour is currently in the process of destroying the very well established hedge at the end of my garden which gives us a lot of privacy and blocks out road noise. Up to them it’s their hedge - but I would like to replace it. My ideal hedge would be:

fast growing
wide leaves for noise cancelling
pet friendly
wildlife friendly
suitable for heavy clay, sometimes waterlogged soil

That bit of garden is not waterlogged now but they’ve also removed a huge tree and are concreting the land so I suspect my marshy garden is about to get a lot wetter. I was going to go for red robin but it’s not really wildlife friendly so I wondered what else I should consider. Things I like like holly are far too slow growing.

also the best place to buy mature plants as cheap as possible would be good. I’m also open to a variety of plants to put in together as long as they meet the requirements.

Willow is fast growing and loves wet feet.

Are you wanting green all year? What kind of budget/ length to plant?

Laurel. but it can get BIG. Although you can cut it back quite harshly without a problem
(well i did!)

Doesn't necessarily fulfill the wildlife benefit required

At a guess currently around 8ft long. I don’t know if the neighbours are done removing the hedge yet (they could leave it how it is and it would look reasonable) and haven’t been able to catch them to be able to ask so it could be as much as up to 30ft

'An array of British birds and other small animals adore the luscious berries that laurel hedging plants produce, bringing added wildlife value to a garden. Bay Laurel is the only member of the Laurel family that is both edible and fragrant.'

'Laurel plants are great for nesting birds. If you are aware of wildlife and enjoy spotting birds Laurel may well be the hedge of choice for you. Also, because Laurel are so hardy they will rarely suffer from the dreaded 'dead patches' found on conifer or privet hedges sometimes.'

Beech. They are wonderful things. The leaves turn golden in the autumn and they hold them all through the winter until the new green leaves push them off in the spring.
Wonderful for nesting birds and have hedgehogs too.

An alder hedge fits the bill. Likes water, native, grows 40-60cm a year and wildlife love it.

Laurel would also work but it’s less useful for wildlife and I’m sick of seeing them growing in woodland.

Whatever you go for, factor in twice yearly pruning.

That quote seems to be a bit muddled between Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) which is the berry bearing one and Laurus nobilis, the Bay Laurel, or Bay, which is the one we use as a herb. Although Bay produces berries, they’re not an obvious feature of the plant in the UK. Cherry Laurel is what is referred to in adverts for “Laurel” in hedging.

It is two different quotes.

You mean "An array of British birds and other small animals adore the luscious berries that laurel hedging plants produce, bringing added wildlife value to a garden. Bay Laurel is the only member of the Laurel family that is both edible and fragrant." is two different quotes that you have elided together to appear as one?

"An array of British birds and other small animals adore the luscious berries that laurel hedging plants produce, bringing added wildlife value to a garden." is talking about Prunus laurocerasus

"Bay Laurel is the only member of the Laurel family that is both edible and fragrant." is talking about Laurus nobilis, in a different family. What relevance has it to the first sentence?

It's two different quotes -

from the Internet, that big, unreliable thing.

Portuguese laurel flowers in spring, then sets berries which the birds LOVE

You had two paragraphs, in separate quote marks. The two sentences I quoted are both from the first paragraph, which you seem to be saying is itself two separate quotes, so that you have three separate quotes in your post.

If the first paragraph is in fact one quote not two, then it is muddled, and not to be relied on, which was worth pointing out for gardeners not familiar with these two species.

Prunus lusitanica, related to Cherry laurel but different family from Bay laurel.

Native hedging. A mix of blackthorn, hornbeam, dog rose, hazel, field maple etc. You can plant it bareroot in the spring. Grows fairly fast and tick if you double plant. Great for wildlife. https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/native-hedging

To suck up water, Willow. We have White Willow (Salix Alba), you can pollard or coppice to make sure they don't get out of hand. If you can find someone who has one, you can take a whip from it, stick it in the ground and it should root. We also have Weeping Willows, they are a PITA for maintenance.

Pyracantha - it grows well, we have clay soil.
Beautiful berries that the birds love .
Good hiding spaces for wildlife
And great for security as it is a jaggy little blighter ! Not sure how pet friendly you'd say it is . I trim the low branches so my cats don't catch themselves .

I also suggest a veto of blackthorn as it's not pet friendly.

It's really, horribly prickly.

We have Portuguese laurel and whilst it is not as wildlife friendly as other native hedges, we have an enormous array of wildlife in our garden, and the birds like the berries. It looks fantastic and it fast growing

So is hawthorn, but that tends to mean the dogs stay inside the garden better (not fenced everywhere)

Native fast growers are hazel, elder and willow. All can be kept as a hedge so long as you cut them back and train them regularly.

Buddleja as grow quickly.

Willow as a living fence - depending on how densely you weave it together it can let light through or be solid like a hedge. The flowers /catkins are great for early nectar & pollen, it will love wet conditions, you can weave it into a structure easily, and choose your height. You can find amazing stem colours, particularly nice in the winter. And it will take up lots of water!

It's cheap and fast growing but doesn't need to be thick like a hedge would, doesn't produce loads of hedge cuttings twice a year.

It's not great for nesting birds (not dense enough), nor does it produce berries. But the pollen is great for early bees.

It grows so quickly but isn't native and not optimum for wildlife compared with other things. It's called butterfly bush because it attracts butterflies but doesn't support caterpillars or larvae

I would go with Willow which will help with harshness