What hedging should I plant near my vegetables?

[FancyLilacHare]

I need some privacy at the back of the garden and the fences keep falling down so I'm thinking it will be a lot less hassle if I just plant a hedge. But I want one that's compatible with growing vegetables so not Holly or anything like that.

Any advice?

Privet, cheap,quick growing, ever green ,common in UK gardens.

But a hedge will take a lot of the water and nutrients from the soil. You will need at least 4 feet between the hedge and your vegetable bed.

Sorry, OP, nothing you’ve said advice as I’m a total novice, but to more experienced posters, is it too late to plant a hedge now, in April?

This. Get a sturdier fence instead.

Definitely not privet. Quick growing is exactly the problem. That means hungry and thirsty. And high maintenance, because you have to trim it constantly.

Oh bugger. So hedge is a bad option. I am too incompetent to do fences though.

Is there an evergreen vegetable hedge?

Espalier fruit trees? They’ll be hungry and thirsty but a least productive. Not evergreen, obviously, but would still give a bit of screening in winter

Hedges are wonderful- I love our beech hedge. It is green in the summer then turns bronze in autumn. It holds its leaves all through winter, then in March/April, as the new leaves come through they push the old bronze leaves off and the cycle starts again.
I think you can plant hedges all year round as long as they are not bare rooted. Doing it in the autumn means you don’t need to water, but you can still plant at other times - it just means you have to water it regularly.
Our beech hedge is a thing of beauty; I really love it. It’s chock-full of nesting birds (sparrows and chiff-chaffs) and we have hedgehogs too!
I have 5 raised veg beds, 2 of which are right next to the hedge. I have to water them anyway because they are raised beds, I don’t think the hedge makes any difference.

I've seen tree kales used as hedging.. some of the heritage varieties are huge and perennial..

I think I might go for the beech hedge myself.

Fences are a PITA.