Help me choose some new......

[DuddleDipper]

hedging please !! (Doesn't need to sound so boring) We have taken out fencing from the end of our garden and want to plant some informal / natural hedging so I am looking for ideas. The width of the garden is about 40 feet (I think) and I'd like something no more than about 20 feet tall I think. I don't know what sort of soil I have other than a few rhodo's at the front don't look at all happy. Main section gets full sunlight most of the day and I think we are west facing. Preferably evergreen, ideally with flowers and berries or changing leaves to give interest through the year. Can be slow growing but needs to be low maintenance and dense to keep children in. Any ideas ???

How about holly? It ticks most of your boxes (as long as you're not worried about the prickles).

Are you in the countryside? If so, how about a real, mixed hedge? Excellent for wildlife.

How abot pho..somethingorother. Red Robin.

Hang on, I'll find a link.

Photinia

Evergreen hedges provide shelter and privacy all year round; good non-coniferous evergreen hedging plants include:

Aucuba japonica ?Crotonifolia? (spotted laurel) m-l, with glossy, spotted foliage
Photinia x fraseri ?Red Robin? m-l, best in mild districts, producing brilliant red shoots
Prunus lusitanica (Portugal laurel) m-l.
The above are usually pruned once or twice a year in early spring and/or late summer. Prune large-leaved evergreens with secateurs rather than shears or trimmers to avoid foliage damage.

Try here for advce

Thanks guys, lots of ideas for me to look up !

MadBad, real mixed hedge for wildlife would be fab, we are semi rural, on the edge of a small town with countryside the other way but I grew up in a flat so just have no idea on what plants would be in it, some of InTheScrum 's ideas maybe ?? Holly or prickles not so good as children are 2.4 and 6 and likely to bounce off it regurlarly !

Viburnum tinus? I'm going to hide our back fence with a row of laurels, photinia and viburnum tinus.

www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/2066.shtml

Duddledipper - My only knowledge of hedge-laying comes from TV gardening and magazines (I live in an urban wasteland so an authentic 'laid' hedge would be incongruous) but this web page seems to offer some useful tips on laying a real hedge (rather than a row of shrubs, if you get my drift). Some of the shrubs which have been suggested in other posts are gorgeous, but to encourage wildlife some of the native species mentioned on the web page may be preferable.

have a look here

& here

I'd also suggest a native mixed hedge, fantastic for wildlife and sounds like it would look perfect in your garden setting.

These mentioned on the RHS link given by Intehscrum are esp nice IMO as they either have fruit/berries/flowers or autumn colour.

Acer campestre (field maple); Corylus avellana (hazel); Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn); Euonymus europaeus (spindle); Prunus spinosa (blackthorn).