Can I grow anything through my laurel hedge?

[PersisFord]

Hello I'm a real amateur gardener and I've moved into a house with a south facing garden and a big laurel hedge at the end. I love the privacy, it stops (some!) of the kids' balls going next door and it's got birds nesting in it at the moment....but it's so dark and boring! It's also quite bare at the bottom - prob a meter or so of boring trunk with nothing growing under it.

Could I grow something up/through it to be more interesting? There's a dead clematis by a trellis so obviously the previous owners had a go! I would like something with flowers that attracts bees - could I try a rambling rose? Honeysuckle?

Any thoughts much appreciated!

I have a Portuguese laurel hedge. The space underneath is quite shady (north east exposure) so I’ve planted lots of ferns, dicentra, astilbes, ivy and pansies. I also have spring bulbs (iris reticulata, fritillaries) in there. I love it - it looks lush. Maybe not the best for scent, flowers and bees though.

Is yours in the shade or does it get lots of sun?

Atm bees are going crazy around my alliums, that might be an option?

If you get a lot of sun, maybe some achilleas (yarrow), bees love it.

For climbers, how about star Jasmine? Evergreen, lovely scent and good for pollinators.

Ooh thanks, yours sounds so lovely (had to Google a few plants, hadn't heard of them!).

The whole garden is really sunny but because the hedge is quite deep and tall the area under it doesn't really get much sun at all. At the moment there is some gravel there (lots of gravel in theis garden!) and some moss.

I could plant some bulbs for next year, that's a good idea. And jasmine is a great idea, I forgot about it

I was wondering about a little rock garden - our garden is essentially a football/cricket/hockey/netball area and i though a rock garden might be more resilient to balls but I don't know if it would flourish in the shade. In my old house I planted a 6 pack of mixed alpine plants I got from Sainsbury's over a crumbling wall and it was the best part of the garden. But that was really sunny.

If it's cherry laurel you might have issues as it gives off something which makes the soil poisonous for other plants.

Hmm it is a cherry laurel i think. Is there anything that could be done about that? I'm wondering if it's a rambling rose if I could start it at one end of the hedge where there is better soil and grow it along sideways?

Take it out and replace it with something else? Cherry laurel is horrible stuff. Useful but horrible. We have a garden full of it and not much else because it has killed everything.

a clemitis might work

Maybe I'll try a clematis then, although I like roses much more! The laurel wouldn't have been my first choice but it is useful and it is FULL of birds. Otherwise it's trellises to try and get some privacy (and ball protection!) for years until a beech hedge is tall enough.

Thanks everyone