Help planting a hedge

[MrAlyakhin]

The last owners of my house allowed the conifer hedge to get enormous. This makes pruning it really awkward and I'm removing a 5m section so I can manage the garden better as I can't afford to constantly get a gardener round.

I want to plant shrubs that will provide a bit of privacy. But I don't want to plant anything that's going to need constant trimming to keep it in check. Or anything that's likely to upset the neighbours, so nothing that will get too tall as it will tower over their house as we're above them on a hill. Ideally I'd like it to be beneficial to nature.

Once these trees are out I'll have a stretch of about 5m between a lilac and a pyracantha that I'd like to plant up relatively cheaply. Any suggestions?

How about viburnum? https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/viburnum/fruit

Do you want flowering shrubs or just screening?

I have an evergreen Ceanothus which would look good next to conifers. It is tolerant of dry/poor soil, stunning when it flowers (bright blue flowers, much loved by bees, for months on end) and it doesn't need much trimming to keep it under control. There are several varieties, some evergreen, some not and of various heights, with flower colours between white and dark blue.

Otherwise, hornbeam and beech retain their leaves in winter and only need trimming annually (30-ish cm growth per year), or what about privet? Wild privet has scented flowers and is loved by wildlife and all privets are semi evergreen, but the very dense branches provide a reasonable screen even without the leaves. Once established, all the above should cope with the poor/dry soil next to conifers.

I'd be inclined to get rid of all the conifers and replace the lot with a beech hedge.

@RescueMeFromThisSilliness I expect I will do this. I can't afford to do everything as there is another stretch about 10m long. Fortunately I can maintain these as I can access all around them. So they don't impact the neighbours as much. I'm in the process of extending the hedge above them so effectively I'm planting around 10m in total this year. Once these plants are in and somewhat established I'll remove the rest in 2 or 3 years time.

@Skybyrd I like flowering and evergreen so ceanothus would be good. I do like the look of privet and it's affordable, thanks for the suggestion. Much as I'm not a fan of the conifers the birds do seem to like them for nesting so privet would be good for them.

@Aparecium I definitely like the look of viburnum. I didn't realise there were so many varieties. I have viburnum tinus which is lovely but I think in this position some of the other varieties look like they will work really well, thanks for the suggestion.

Be aware that anything planted near where large conifers are or even used to be will really struggle to get established, so make sure you provide for watering and takeng really good care of them for a few years.

I want to get rid of a large overgrown conifer hedge without losing the privacy, so I decided to plant a whole new row of shrubs a good 4-5 metres in front of it a couple of years ago. The only ones that have actually done well are a few cotinus flame and a Portuguese laurel. Everything else is hanging in by its fingernails or has died. I had planted Viburnum, bay, buddleja, lilac, camellias and winter jasmine.

I reckon it will be at least 10 years until they provide enough cover that I can remove that damn hedge.

Remember to dig in a ton of manure - conifers exhaust the soil, so it will be very poor.

I love the idea of ceanothus if it's a sunny position - it's gorgeous, and not too fast growing, especially if you choose a more compact variety rather than, say Trewithen Blue or Concha.

IME true lilac suckers quite a bit, and privet will eventually need trimming nearly as often as the conifers (though it does make a neat hedge). Viburnum is lovely! But the pyracantha you suggest would be excellent for the birds if you can bear the thorns when you trim it. A neighbour has a pyracantha hedge and it is just alive with tiny birds at this time of year - and they love it for nesting in, too.

I love a hawthorn hedge if it gets sun you get berries , flowers and scent, it’s really dense so makes good wind barrier and security

Do you like the scent of hawthorn?